Jerome Gambit: Razerchess

 

I recently caught a short TikTok video on the Jerome Gambit by Razerchess with a fun Jerome Gambit line (the assessments are by Razerchess):

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ke6?! 

7.f4 Nc6??

(Also watch out for this brilliant move 7...Qf6!! 8.fxe5?! Qf2+ 9.Kd1 Qxg2?!) 

8.Qxc5 Qe7?? 9.Qd5+ Kf6 10.Qf5 checkmate

I was surprised to find only 4 games in The Database with this line of play. The earliest was blackburne - karmark, Jerome Gambit thematic tournament, ChessWorld.net, 2007. The most recent was oscroos - Sissa85, 2 1 bullet, lichess.org, 2022.

Be sure to check out Razerchess' other videos as well.

Jerome Gambit: Safety?

In the Jerome Gambit, Black's King often hopes to be safe at f8.

In the following game, he seems to have found refuge, but this gets upended by his opponent.

Wall, Bill - Gouba

SparkChess, 2024

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Kf8 

Bill has reached this positon in 29 games, scoring 98% - that's 28 wins, 1 draw, and no losses. 

Stockfish 16.1 reminds that it still sees Black as 1 1/2 pawns better.

6.O-O Nxe5 7.d4 Qe7

This position is new.

8.dxc5 Qxc5 9.Nc3 d6 10.Be3 Qc6 

11.f4 Ng4 12.Bd4 N8f6 13.h3 Nh6 14.Re1 Bd7 

White applies pressure, to bring the game even.

15.g4 Nf7 16.Rc1

This move is a bit too subtle for me. I expected 16.g5. 

16...Qa6 

Likewise, although I expected 16...Re8. 

17.e5 

Back to business.

17...Ne8

He should have bitten the bullet with 17...dxe5 18.fxe5 Nxg4 19.hxg4 Kg8. 

18.e6 Bc6 19.exf7 Kxf7 

20.f5 Rf8 

Preparing to castle-by-hand.

21.Qd2 Kg8 Re7 Nf6 

This allows a sharp ending.

23.Rxg7+ Kxg7 24.Qg5+ Kf7 25.Re1 Be4 26.Nxe4 Nxe4 27.Rxe4 b5 28.Re7 checkmate

Jerome Gambit: Weathering A Counter-Attack

In the following Jerome Gambit game, Black does his share of counter-attacking (possibly aided by a mouse-slip). It certainly looks scary.

However, White's defense proves sufficient, and he weathers the attack, although not without some uneasy moments.

Wall, Bill - Naan

internet, 2024

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ g6 

7.Qxe5 d6 8.Qxh8 

Black resigned here in Wall, Bill - DeltaTango, Chess.com, 2010. 

8...Qh4 

Bill has seen 8...Be6, a move which I commented upon in "Jerome Gambit: Rooks At Large"

It is difficult to grasp the idea behind this move, unless it is simply to follow up the sacrifice with further development. Perhaps Black believes that his opponent will need time to put his Queen back into play. White immediately moves to make sure his Queen will be free.

Continuing, 9.Qxh7+ Kf8 10.Qxg6 Bf7 11.Qh7 Qf6 12.O-O Bg6 13.Qxc7 Nh6 14.d4 Bxd4 15.Bxh6+ Kg8 16.Qxb7 Black resigned, Wall,B - VJCH, FICS, 2013. 

9.d4 

Or 9.O-O Nf6 10.Qd8 as in Wall,B - Foo,N, Palm Bay, FL 2010 (1-0, 33) and Wall,B - Guest871838, PlayChess.com 2014 (1-0, 31).   

9...Bb6 

Black would do better with 9...Nf6 10.dxc5 Qxe4+, although the game remains sharp, and he can get into trouble if he gets greedy, e.g. 11.Be3 Qxg2 12.Nc3!? Qxh1+ 13.Kd2 Qxa1? (better 13...Qxh2) 14.Bd4 and Black will have to give back material to try to help out his attacked King.

Why not 9...Qxe4+ immediately? Play would continue 10.Be3 Qxg2 and 11.Qxh7+ and White consolidates after 11...Kf8 12.Rf1, e.g. 12...Bb4+ 13.c3 Bf5!? 14.cxb4 Bd3 15.Nd2 Re8 16.Qh4 Kg7 17.Qf4 Ne7 18.Qg3. White is better.

10.Nc3 Ba5 11.Kf1 

A mouse slip? A safer alternative was 11.O-O 

11... Bxc3 12.bxc3 Be6 

Still thinking about threats to White's Queen.

13.d5 Bd7 14.c4 Rf8 15.Bb2 Ke8 

Instead, 15...Nf6 16.Bxf6 Qxf6 17.Qxf6+ Kxf6 would allow the enemy Queen to "escape" via exchange. 

16.Qd4 

White is ahead the exchange and a pawn. His King is uncomfortable, but so is Black's.

16...c5 17.dxc6 Bxc6 18.f3 Nf6 19.Re1 

19... Ng4 

Black does not give up easily.

20.h3 Ne5 21.Qxd6 

21...Nxf3 

Still attacking.

22.gxf3 Rxf3+ 23.Ke2 Qf2+ 24.Kd1 Rf7 

If only Black could get his Rook to the e-file, maybe...

25.Qe6+ Re7 26.Qc8+ 

White dashes all hopes - and threatens checkmate in 10 himself.

Black resigned

Jerome Gambit: Provocation Has It's Downside

In the following game, Black urges White to respond, but he can not deal with the consequences.

Wall, Bill - Jojop

sparkchess, 2024

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ng6 

7.Qd5+ Ke8 8.Qxc5 d6 9.Qe3 Nf6 10.f3 

This reinforcement of the e-pawn was most recently seen in EdnaDrown - hechQ, 10 0 blitz, Chess.com, 2021 (1-0, 21).

10...Qe7

Bill also faced 10...Kf7 in Wall, B - Guest3544144, PlayChess.com, 2013 (1-0, 35) and  Wall,B - Guest1105387, PlayChess.com, 2014 (1-0, 30); and 10...Be6 in Wall,B - Guest564723, PlayChess.com, 2019 (1-0, 29). 

Stockfish 16.1 suggests 10...d5.

11.Nc3 Ne5

Provocation? 

12.O-O h5 13.d4 Nf7 

Black's defense looks solid, but White probably has a slight edge - Black's King cannot castle, and it will take time to move to safety.

14.f4 Bd7 15.Bd2 Kf8 

Just in time.

16.e5 dxe5 

Instead, 16...Ng4 17.Qd3 c6 18.Rae1 Re8 19.e6 Qh4 and the battle rages on. 

17.fxe5 Ng4 18.Qd3 

The open f-file for White's Rook makes the difference from the note to Black's 16th move.

18...a6 

Preparing for 19...Bb5, skewering White's Queen, but this gives time for the attack. The defensive 18...Be6 was needed.

19.Nd5 Qe6 20.Nxc7 Black resigned

Jerome Gambit: What Happened?

My reaction to the following game was What happened?

After 9 moves, Black was better. Five more moves, and he resigned.

If the defender relaxes too early against the Jerome Gambit, quite often something happens.

Wall, Bill - Twister

sparkchess, 2024

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ng6 7.Qxc5

An earlier game between these two players included the "nudge" 7.Qd5+. White won in 22 moves.

7...d6 8.Qd5+ 

Bill likes to "put the question to the Bishop" in a different way - Does it want to come to e6 to block the check, leaving the b-pawn unprotected?

He has scored an impressive 14 - 0 - 1 with 8.Qd5+. 

8...Be6 9.Qxb7

He who captures the Queen's Knight pawn sleeps in the gutter. -- a stern warning against pawn-grabbing

He who grabs the pawn, and spirits away, lives to fight another day. -- a lesson from Bill Wall's Jerome Gambit games

9...N8e7 

We have reached another annoying position for Black. 

Stockfish 16.1 assesses Black to be almost 1 3/4 pawns better.

White has three pawns and a safer King for his sacrificed piece.

How to proceed?

10.O-O Re8 

Fine, but the computer has already evaluated things as =. Bill suggests, instead, 10...Qd7. Stockfish 16.1 likes 10...Nf4 or 10...d5. 

11.f4 Kg8

Bill gives this move a ?, but it is Stockfish 16.1's first choice, and leads to an even game (thirty ply). Yet it allows White's pawn a fork.

12.f5 

12...Bc8

Bill rightly gives this move ?? 

The other day I was telling my grandson about my experience slipping on a banana peel. Perhaps there was a peel on the d7 square.

13.Qxa8 Ne5 14.Qxa7 Black resigned

Jerome Gambit: With Flair

In the following game, White has a minute to win it - and does so with flair.

angelcamina - EKrake

1 0 bullet, lichess.org, 2024

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Nc3 Bc5 5.Bxf7+ 

The Italian Four Knights Jerome Gambit.

4...Kxf7 6.Nxe5+ Nxe5 7.d4 Bxd4 8.Qxd4 Qe7 

Black's Queen protects his Knight and will pressure White's e-pawn.

9. O-O Nc6 10.Qc4+ Kg6 

This move is too risky. Athough Stockfish 16.1 shows that after 10...Kg6 Black's advantage drops to 0.00 - an even game - there are practical disadvantages.

A safety-first move might have been 10...Qe6. 

11.f4 Rd8 

It can be tempting for a defender to conclude that the Jerome Gambit is so reckless that there is plenty of time to respond effectively.

In this case, thought, the Rook move combined with the previous King move leads to a forced loss for Black.

12.f5+ Kh5 13.Qe2+ 

Now, if Black makes the right move, he only faces a checkmate in 13 moves.

13...Kh4 

There is no way out for Black's King.

14.g3+ Kh3 15.Qg2+ Kg4 16.f4+ Kh5 17.Rh4 checkmate

Jerome Gambit: If I Said It Before...

A lot of what there is to be said about the path the following Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) game travels has already been said, so I have linked to earlier blog posts freely.

joesienk - JuanviPascual

"Jerome Gambit Classic #1",Chess.com, 2024

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kf8 

As I noted in "Jerome Gambit for Dummies 2.0 (Part 3)"

Although 98% of the time (according to The Database) Black captures the Bishop, the move is not forced. It is simply a choice for the second player between having an "objectively" winning game with 4...Kxf7 and having the worse position after 4...Kf8 or 4...Ke7.

Jerome Gambit Declined

Jerome Gambit Declined

Yet a few defenders will adopt the sly attitude If he wants me to take the Bishop, then I won't take it.

There is some "psychology" in this, too: the Jerome Gambiteer suddenly finds himself "stuck" with a calm, but "objectively" better game than had been expected a move before. This change of fortune can take some getting used to.

Also in "Jerome Gambit: Too Many Decisions Too Quickly"

Of course, if the move comes as a surprise to White, the thinking time it takes to respond could be significant in a 1-minute game.

The non-human computer program Stockfish 15.1 is not impressed, evaluating (32 ply) the position as almost 2 pawns better for White. This is why the Jerome Gambit player should have a plan, devised ahead of schedule, for facing Declined variations.

 5.Nxe5

Further from "Jerome Gambit: Too Many Decisions Too Quickly"

White could simply retreat the Bishop with 5.Bc4 or 5.Bb3, or exchange it with 5.Bxg8. Perhaps that is what Black expected.

Instead, he decides to complicate things further. It's all part of the plan.

Although this line makes up only about 2% of the games in The Database, it has held a fascination for me, as I have posted on it a number of times, including "Jerome Gambit: First Steps (Part 5)", "Jerome Gambit: Keep It Simple", "JeromeGambit: It Is Supposed To Be Uncomplicated" and "Jerome Gambit: Ignore Me, Stay Aware".

5...Nxe5 

Once more, from "Jerome Gambit: Too Many Decisions Too Quickly"

I suppose that you could be asking yourself, What if Black tried the wild 5...Qh4 instead? 

Yury V. Bukayev is way ahead of you, having considered that in his post "Anatoly Karpov & Jerome Gambit (Part 1)".

6.Bd5 Nf6 

Too routine. Instead, there was the counter-attacking 6...Qf6!? 

7.d4 Nxd5 8.dxe5 

The way to go was 8.exd5, i.e. 8...Bb4+ 9.c3 Ng6 10.cxb4 d6 

8...Ne7 

9.Qf3+ Kg8 10.O-O 

Stockfish 16.1 tries to be helpful by pointing out that 10.Qb3+ Kf8 11.Qf3+ Kg8 12.Qb3+ etc would be a draw. 

White wants more.

10...Ng6 11.Qb3+ Kf8 12.Be3 

More than mere development.

12...Bxe3 

Missing the idea of his opponent's move. Better was 12...Qe7. 

13.fxe3+ Ke7 14.Qf7 checkmate