In recent posts I have suggested that those who play, and those who face, the Jerome Gambit, would benefit from becoming familiar with "the classics" of that line.
That got me thinking: What would those classics be?
I have come up with a preliminary sketch. I think all of the games (except one) have appeared on this blog.
0. Jerome - Dougherty
Alonzo Wheeler Jerome has written that his first Jerome Gambit was played against George Dougherty. Although I have not yet been able to find the game, it most likely occurred before the April, 1874 issue of the Dubuque Chess Journal, where the first analysis of the Jerome Gambit was presented. Of Dougherty I know little, but the following notice occurred in the Dubuque Chess Journal, May 1875
Our Portfolio
Chess Challenge
George J. Dougherty, of Mineola, Queen's County, New York, hereby respectfully invites John G. Belden, Esq., of Hartford, Conn., to play him two games of chess by Postal Card, at his convenience, Mr. Belden taking the attack in one game and Mr. Dougherty in the other; the object being to test the soundness of Jerome's Double Opening, published in the April No. (50) of this Chess Journal.
1. Jerome - Shinkman, Iowa, 1874
The first published Jerome Gambit played by Jerome that I have been able to uncover (in the July issue of the Dubuque Chess Journal) was a loss by White.
2. Jerome - Whistler, correspondence, 1876
Largely lost to the chess-playing public, the correspondence match between Jerome and Lt. G.N. Whistler (one game survives) tested the latter's defense to the Jerome Gambit. Alas, a crushing defeat for White - who rarely, if ever, seemed to remember to mention the line thereafter.
3. Vazquez - Giraudy, exhibition, Mexico, 1876
In perhaps the most outrageous Jerome Gambit played, the Mexican champion, giving Rook odds, checkmated his opponent in 18 moves.
4. Vazquez - Carrington, 2nd Match, Mexico, 1876
This is actually a "composite" listing, as the Mexican champion played the Jerome Gambit three times (games 1, 5 and 9) in his match with William Carrington, winning them all.
5. D'Aumiller - A. P., Livorno, 1878
This miniature played in Livorno, Italy - lasting 19 moves, at which point White announced a mate in 4 - was published in the May 1878 issue of Nuova Rivista degli Scacchi, showing that the Jerome Gambit had already hurdled the ocean.
[to be continued]
A glance at a recent Blackburne Shilling Jerome Gambit Declined suggests that all is still well for White - although, perhaps not as well as the game would indicate.
Cydeco - Nikilady
blitz, FICS, 2012
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nd4 4.Bxf7+ Ke7 5.Bc4 Black forfeited by disconnection
When I get a new bunch of games, I like to see what has been happening in some of the most important lines. The following game explores Whistler's Defense, a very dangerous line for White to deal with. Once again, we see that although a refutation may exist in the books, it may not easily make it to the board. The first player loses only after missing his chance to escape.
franciskov - danielhidrobo
blitz, FICS, 2013
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+
4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ g6 7.Qxe5 Qe7
A wicked "improvement" on the 7...d6 of Amateur - Blackburne, London, 1884 - first played almost a decade earlier, but largely forgotten.
8.Qxh8
White should not be able to take the Rook and live.
8...Qxe4+
An innocuous sideline is 8...Qf6 9.Qxh7+ Kf8 10.0-0 Black resigned, Wall,B - Sepoli, Chess.com 2010.
9.Kd1
9.Kf1 is better, as in Jerome,A - Norton,D, Correspondence 1876 (½-½, 20)
9...d5
Black does not realize what an opportunity he has in 9...Qxg2. See blackburne-perrypawnpusher/JG3 thematic, ChessWorld.net 2008 (0-1, 17), but don't overlook Wall,B - Mathieubuntu, FICS, 2011 (½-½,14).
9...Qg4+ 10.f3 Qxg2 is a similar kick in the head, Jerome,A - Whistler,G, Correspondence 1876 (0-1, 15).
10.Re1
Taking a shot at the enemy Queen, but overlooking his light-square weakenesses. Necessary was 10.Qxh7+ Kf6 11.f3, safe-guarding both his Queen and King, when he can cobble together a defense, according to Rybka: 11...Qg4 12.Rg1 Qd7 13.Qh8+ Qg7 14.Qxg7+ Kxg7 15.Re1. White is up the exchange and two pawns.
Now Black finishes things off.
10...Bg4+ 11.f3 Bxf3+ 12.gxf3 Qxf3+
13.Re2 Re8 14.Qxh7+ Kf8 15.Nc3 Qf1+ 16.Re1 Qxe1 checkmate
If you play the Jerome Gambit, some day you will be faced with one of its many refutations. The only thing you can do is gather up your resources, look at the defense or counter-attack, and start "Staring It Down"...
Yopsoe turns in a great game of fighting chess.
Yopsoe (2047) - lucylucy (1736)
standard, FICS, 2013
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+
4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.d4 Qh4
Black's sharpest response, which I have referred to as "a pie-in-the-face variation".
7.0-0 Ng4
Black is going for the kill, but this is probably not his strongest move.
8.h3 Bb6
Instead, 8...Bd6 was seen in Sorensen,S - X, Denmark, 1888 (1-0, 27), the earliest example of 6...Qh4 in The Database.
9.hxg4
Not 9.Qf3+ as in Sir Osis of the Liver - perrypawnpusher, Jerome Gambit thematic, ChessWorld, 2008 (0-1, 38)
9...d6 10.f3 h5
Sheer aggression.
Development with 10...Be6 was seen in Wall,B - Rajiv, Chess.com 2010 (1-0, 33).
11.g5 Ne7 12.Be3 Rf8 13.Nc3 Kg8
With the h-file closed to Black's Rook, he decides to castle-by-hand. Houdini gives Black a slight edge, but it must be annoying to the second player to have his counter-attack blunted.
14.Ne2 c5 15.c3 cxd4 16.cxd4 Bd8 17.Qc1
Black would like to target the White pawn on g5, while White wants to move the action to another part of the board.
17...Ng6 18.Qc4+ Rf7 19.Rac1 a5 20.Qd5 Nf8 21.Rf2 Be6 22.Qxd6 Be7
The game remains sharp, and Houdini gives White a slight edge, despite Black's active pieces.
23.Qb6 Bd8 24.Qb5 Bc8
A puzzling defensive idea: to kick out White's Queen, Black un-develops.
25.g3 Qh3 26.g6 Nxg6 27.Rh2 Qe6 28.Qxh5
Now White has the initiative, and his advantage grows, even as Black defends by exchanging pieces.
28...Rc7 29.Rxc7 Bxc7 30.Nf4 Nxf4 31.gxf4 Bd6 32.d5 Qe7
The "Jerome pawns" are going to show their worth.
33.e5 Bc5 34.Bxc5 Qxc5+ 35.Kg2 Bd7 36.Qh8+ Kf7 37.e6+ Bxe6 38.dxe6+ Kxe6 39.Qxg7
Taking Black's Rook at move 37 or 39 would have allowed a perpetual starting with ...Qc2+.
39...Qe7 40.Rh6+ Kd7 41.Qd4+ Kc8 42.Rh8+ Black forfeited on time
Finally, The Database has been sent out to those who have requested it. Ask, and you shall receive.
The Database is a free PGN database of nearly 29,000 Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+), Blackburne Shilling Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nd4 4.Bxf7+), and Semi-Italian Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 h6 4.0-0/4.Nc3/4.d3 Bc5 5.Bxf7+) games; as well as games following the so-far-unnamed order 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Na5 4.Bxf7+.
A good number of the games in The Database are either Italian Four Knights Jerome Gambits (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Nc3 Bc5 5.Bxf7+) or Semi-Italian Four Knight Jerome Gambits (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 h6 4.0-0/4.Nc3 Nf6 5.Nc3 / 5.0-0 Bc5 6.Bxf7+)
Included are 1575 games in the "Impatient Semi-Italian Jerome Gambit Line" 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 h6 4.Bxf7+ for those who like to get saccing early.
Strong players make it all look simple, but, at least for the rest of us, chess is anything but simple.
Wall,B - Guest344942
Playchess.com, 2013
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+
4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.d4 Bxd4 7.Qxd4 d6
8.Qd5+ Kf8 9.0-0 Nf6 10.Qd4 Nc6 11.Qd3 Qe7 12.Nc3 h6 13.Bf4
Chess is not always a simple game. Black, with a piece for a pawn, must be better, but he still has to complete his development and get his King to safety, while White has already connected his Rooks.
Black's plan for castling-by-hand will give his opponent a target.
13...g5 14.Be3 Kg7 15.f4 Ng4
Black figures that he has time to trade off White's Bishop. For some reason he abandons that notion a couple of moves later, to his detriment.
16.Nd5 Qd8 17.Bd4+ Kh7
An unnecessary flinch. Necessary was 17...Nxd4 18.Qxd4+ Kh7 19.fxg5 (threatening 20.Rf7+) when White has nearly equalized, e.g. 19...Ne5 20.gxh6 Qg5 21.h4 (bumping the Queen off the g-file) Qxh6 22.Nxc7 Rb8 23.Nb5.
Now the roof falls in.
18.e5+ Kg8
The only escape from mate was 18...Kg7, although then there is 19.e6+ Nxd4 20.Qxd4+ Kg8 21.e7 Qe8 and 22.fxg5, threatening 23.Rf8+.
19.Qg6+ Kf8 20.fxg5+ Black resigned
As suggested earlier, players involved in Jerome Gambits would benefit from studying the "classic" game examples of that opening.
In the game below, MrJoker's opponent turns over his King at the loss of a Rook, just when things were becoming interesting. He should be sentenced to play over Amateur - Blackburne, London, 1885 - but, then again, "Nobody expects the Jerome Gambit!"
MrJoker - gredow
blitz, 2 12 ICC, 2013
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ g6 7.Qxe5 d6 8.Qxh8
Black disconnected and forfeited
