If not a Jerome Gambit...

Sometimes, when I cannot achieve a Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) in the opening, I am happy to move on into a Boden-Kieseritzky Gambit, and I am usually able to find a Jerome-ish theme or two there, as well...


perrypawnpusher - TheMagicTorch
blitz FICS, 2009
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6

4.0-0 Nxe4 5.Nc3 f5

An unusual and risky continuation, as in my game vs jayshanker. The regular B-K continues after 5...Nxc3 6.dxc3

6.Re1

The suggested move in "Boden-Kieseritzky-Jerome Gambit?"

6...Bc5

More prudent seems to be 6...d6.

7.Nxe4

I was having Jerome dreams dancing in my head, but, really, 7.d4 was better, as with 7...d5 8.Bxd5 Nxc3 9.Bxc6+ bxc6 10.Rxe5+ Be7 11.bxc3 0-0 and White has the advantage.

7...fxe4 8.Nxe5 Nxe5

Black would have had less of a problem if he had thought Jerome-ish-ly, too: 8...Bxf2+ 9.Kxf2 Qh4+ 10.Kg1 Nxe5 11.g3 Qf6 12.Rxe4 Kd8 when White's advantage is small.

9.Qh5+ g6 10.Qxe5+ Qe7

11.Qxh8+ Qf8 12.Rxe4+ Be7 13.Qxh7

A Rook ahead, I let my brain relax. Readers who enjoy tactics propably are asking themselves, "What about trying 13.Rxe7+ instead?" and they are right: 13...Kxe7 14.Qe5+ Kd8 15.d4 d6 16.Bg5+ Kd7 17.Be6+ Ke8 ( 17...Kc6 18.Qd5+ Kb6 19.Qb3+ Ka5 20.Bd2+ Ka6 21.Bc4+ b5 22.Qxb5#) 18.Qe2 Qg7 19.Re1 Bd7 20.Bxd7+ Kf8 21.Be6 Qf6 22.Bxf6 Re8 23.Qf3 Rxe6 24.Rxe6 Kg8 25.Bh8 h6 26.Re8+ Kh7 27.Qf7 checkmate. Good work!

13...c6 14.Qxg6+ Kd8

Timid Brain said: Watch out for that coming fork at d5!

Courageous Brain says: Bring it! Try: 15.d4 d5 16.Rxe7 Kxe7 17.Bg5+ Kd7 18.Qh7+ Kd6 19.Bh4 dxc4 20.Re1 Bf5 21.Bg3+ Kd5 22.Re5+ Kd6 23.Rxf5+ Ke6 24.Re5+ Kd6 25.Re7+ Qf4 26.Bxf4+ Kd5 27.Qe4 checkmate.

15.Re1 d5 16.Bb3 Bd7 17.d4

Now Black makes a slip, and his game folds up like an accordion.

17...Bh4 18.Bg5+ Kc7 19.Bxh4 Rc8 20.Bg3+ Kd8 21.Qg5+ Qe7 22.Qxe7 checkmate

Rybka deals with the Jerome Gambit

The following is taken from the Support and Discussion section of the Rybka website.

It seems that the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) can have a discombobulating effect on even the best chess-playing program in the world.

Topic Rybka Support & Discussion / Rybka / Rybka 2.3.2a mp, bug after Y-key? (493 hits)

By Michiel Wind Date 2008-06-11 04:58 Edited 2008-06-11 05:45

Not sure if anybody mentioned this bug before.

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ (the Jerome Gambit, my secret weapon for the next Freestyle tournament) Kxf7 5.Nxe5+

Now the obvious reply is Nxe5, but I wanted to know if there are any alternatives, so I pressed the Y-key. Rybka now gives 5....Ke8 as +0.3.

But strangely enough, if I play 5...Kf8 he immediately gives it as -0.8!

If after 5.Nxe5 I ask for 3 variations, then they are correctly listed as 5...Nxe5 -1.45...Kf8 -0.85...Ke8 +0.3

I have tried the above many times, but Rybka always gives the wrong alternative (to 5...Nxe5) move 5...Ke8 instead of 5...Kf8.

Odds-giving

While I've touched upon the idea of playing the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) against a weaker player as a form of odds-giving, and even included some information on the practice (see "Jerome Gambit For Dummies (1)"), for a much better understanding of the subject – a real tour de force – it is best to read Sarah Beth Cohen's remarkable essay "The Romance of Chess - A Perspective on the Art of Odds-giving".

While you're at her site, wander around a bit and appreciate her sense of, and dedication to, chess history.

(For the record, Ms. Cohen has played the Jerome Gambit at least once.)

Happy Birthday: Twelve months of blog...

Today marks the 1 year "birthday" of this daily-posted blog. Thanks for stopping by!

Many people have provided information on the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) and other openings for both jeromegambit.blogspot.com and my (unreleased) article on the history of the Jerome Gambit.

I want to express my heartfelt thanks to each of those who have helped, starting with the Jerome Gambit Gemeinde, of course, but including: Jude Acers, Deanna Austin, Kent Ball, Pete Banks, Teni Bedrosian, Martin Bennedik, Eric Bentzen, John Blackstone, Harold Bohn, Neil Brennen, Paul Broekhuyse, Stefan Bücker, J. Gayle Camarda, Franklin Campbell, Geoff Chandler, Adailton Chiaradia, Sarah Cohen, Coxsackie Historic Preservation Commision, Kristina Daily, Dan DeHann, Todor Dimitrov, Steven Dowd, Paul Dunn, Bob Durrett, Erik at Chess.com, Wayne Everard, Andrew Fabbro, Malcolm Farley, Steve Farmer, Ward Farnsworth, Micah Fisher-Kirshner, Sam Fore, Richard Forster, Ken Fraser, Steve Frymer, Kapil Gain, Gary Gifford, Scott Givens, Michael Goeller, Green County Historical Society, A.B. Hailey, Tim Harding, Keith Hayward, Jyrki Heikkinen, Dan Heisman, Adam Henderson, John Hilbert, Owin Hindle, James F. Holwell, Colin James III, Thomas Johansson, Fyhn Karsten, Ara L. Kaye, Paul Keiser, Libby Ford Kennedy, Rick Kinkaid, Tom Klem, Korch of Korch's Corner, Michael Kramer, Ty Kroll, Robert Kruszynski, Rosemary Kurtz, Gary Lane, Heather Lang, Stan Larsen, George Laven, Peter Lupu, Jeff Martin and the staff of the John G. White Collection at the Cleveland Public Library, Missi Matt, Tim McGrew, Hindemburg Melao, Anna Maria Mihalega, Martin Moller, Dennis Monokroussos, Louis Morin, Mark Morss, Robert Murnan and the staff at the Cleveland Research Center, Clyde Nakamura, Christopher Nelson, Anne Newman, Russ Newman, Jan Newton, Reg Nonni, Ryan North, William Paulsen, James Pratt, Tyrin Price, Tom Purser, Francesco Recchia, Marianne Reynolds, Peter Reuter, N. Earl Roberts, Magnus Rosenstielke, Tim Sawyer, Eric Schiller, Rainer Schlenker, Anne Sebba, Daaim Shabazz, Jeremy Spinrad, Peter Stockhausen, Susan Strahan, Jason Stratman, David Surratt, Joseph Tanti, Pat Tavenner, Anders Thulin, Randy Tipton, Toby and Traci at TobyChess, Attila Turzo, Cindy Ulrich, Olimpiu Urcan, Bill Vallicella, Jaap van der Kooij, Jeroen van Dorp, Vedder Memorial Library staff, Lissa Waite, Andrew Walker, Art Wang, Bill Wall, Brian Wall, Ken Whyld, Edward Winter, Peter Wong, Ed Yetman, Jack Young, Bradley Zang and Lev Zilbermints.

As a "birthday present" to all who are interested, I have put together a PGN database of over 1,100 games: mostly Jerome Gambits or Jerome-ish Gambits, with occasional forays into other unorthodox opening areas, as they have been touched upon on in the first year of this blog.

I also have .pdf files for the Unorthodox Openings Newletter issues #17, #18 and #21 for the articles "Jerome Gambit, or Jerome Gamble?" by Rick Kennedy & G. K. Gifford; "Jerome Gambit – Revisited," by Rick Kennedy; and "Nobody Expects the Jerome Gambit!" by Rick Kennedy; respectively.

Finally, it is possible to provide the first year of this blog as one file that can be viewed with a web browser, off-line – all of the fun, none of the bandwidth.

They are yours for the asking, with my thanks for stopping by to celebrate.

Semi-Good

I can understand the excitement of the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) and occasionally that can get a player ahead of himself or herself. The Jerome motif can be fun against the Semi-Italian Opening (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 h6) but, as the following game shows, it is best to wait for Black to play ...Bc5 first.


Fuller - Vallance-Gallant
Women's Open Championship of Canada
ICCF, 2008



1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 h6
4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.0-0

There's no use trying 5.Nxe5 Nxe5 6.Qh5+, as after 6...Ng6 there is no Bishop to capture on c5. I've gotten away with this oversight against marapr and my buddy abhailey has done the same against cumelen, but it's not the right way to play the Jerome Semi-Italian.

White's situation is similar to that in playing the "modern" Jerome Gambit: it's hard to work up play without her opponent's help.

5...d6 6.Nc3 Nf6 7.Nd5
7...Be7 8.c3 Re8 9.d4 Bg4

White keeps offering material, and Black keeps declining – and developing.

10.h3 Bxf3 11.Qxf3 exd4 12.c4 Kg8


Black has castled-by-hand, and White's game continues to go from bad to worse.

13.b4 Nxd5 14.cxd5 Nxb4 15.Qg3 Bg5

16.a3 Bxc1 17.axb4 Bb2 18.Rab1 Bc3 19.b5 Rxe4 20.Qf3 Qe7 21.b6 axb6 22.Ra1 Bxa1 23.g3 Re1 24.Qd3 Qe2 25.Qxe2 Rxe2 26.Rxa1 Rxa1+ 27.Kg2 d3 28.Kf3 Raa2 29.h4 Rxf2+ 30.Ke4 d2 31.Ke3 d1Q 32.Ke4 Qa4+ 33.Kd3 Rf3 checkmate

To paraphrase Albert Einstein, one should play the Jerome Gambit as soon as possible, but not sooner.

Role Reversal

Sometimes in a Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) game, the players' roles can be reversed, and Black can become the attacker. In those cases, the second player must use everything he has, or risk seeing the game slip away.

Valverde,M (2136) - Krause,V (1683)

CiF-4er/0114 Remoteschach.de, 2008

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

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ g6 7.Qxe5

7...Qe8

This is new. Blackburne's defense is 7...d6. Whistler's defense is 7...Qe7. The text looks like a finger-slip, but it is an interesting counter-gambit that almost works.

8.Qxc5

Taking the Rook leads to a painful death after 8.Qxe4+, as in the Whistler see – "Whistling by the graveyard..."

8...Qxe4+ 9.Kf1 Nf6

Instead of this natural move, Rybka 3.0 suggests 9...b6. The idea is the pawn sacrifice 10.Qxc7, which would allow Black to whip up a scary attack with 10...Ba6+ 11.d3 Nf6. Black's threat of ...Bxd3+ and then ...Qxd3+ is annoying. White can try 12.Qd6, and then face 12...Rhe8 when things are quite unclear.

Passing on the pawn doesn't avoid all the danger, for example 10.Qc3 Bb7 11.f3 Qe6 12.Kf2 (White could trade a Queen for two Rooks with 12.Qxh8 Nf6 13.Qxa8 Bxa8) 12...Re8 13.Rf1 Nf6 14.d3 Qd6 15.Kg1 Re2 and even though White has castled-by-hand, the game is still unclear.

10.d3 Qe6 11.Nc3 Re8 12.Bg5 b6

The pawn offer isn't as strong here (although it may lead to a drawish Bishops-of-opposite-color ending), and White isn't thinking "material," anyhow, he's thinking "safety."

13.Qd4 b5

This is a tactical oversight that allows White to wrap up the game. More energetic was the thematic 13...Bb7, when Black still has some pressure for his pawn.

14.Qxf6+ Qxf6 15.Bxf6 Kxf6 16.Nd5+ Black resigned

Keep the shilling...

For those Readers who like to apply the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) treatment to the Blackburne Shilling Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nd4), the following game should bring a smile to their faces.

By the way, a number of years ago, a Hindemburg Melao wrote an interesting article analyzing Amateur - Blackburne, London 1885, “Ajedrez a la Ciega”,(not currently available). Could he be the same player as below?

Melao Jr.,H - Danilo
Centro Cultural, 1996
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nd4 4.Bxf7+

This game pre-dates all of the 4.Bxf7+ Blackburne Shilling Gambit games that I have in my database.

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Ke6 6.c3

The recommended line, as in perrypawnpusher - TheProducer, blitz 10 0, FICS, 2009 (see "Jerome Gambit: Reeling Sequel") but here Melao plays much better than I did.

6...Kxe5 7.cxd4+ Kxe4 8.Qh5

Black should not have taken that pawn on e4.

8...Kxd4

Sadly, Black's best move is 8...g5, to try and limit the White Queen. Still, after 9.Qg4+ Kd5 10.Nc3+ if Black's King isn't mated, he will eventually lose a Rook to a Queen check at e5.

9.d3 Bb4+ 10.Nc3 Bxc3+ 11.bxc3+ Kxc3

12.Qc5+ Kxd3 13.Qd5+ Kc3 14.Bd2+ Kb2 15.Qb3+ Kxa1 16.0-0 checkmate