Jerome Gambit: Tactics Galore Redux

It is best to have your tactics sharpened when you play the Jerome Gambit. The following game is  a good example.

Witzelsucht - Paul_Chert_Chess_3

5 0 blitz, 2021 Spring Marathon, 2021

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ng6 

7.Qd5+ 

Once again, the "nudge", at least in practice, a bit stronger than the immediate capture of the Bishop.

7...Kf8 8.Qxc5+ d6 9.Qe3 Nf6 10.f4 Kf7 

This is an ordinary Jerome Gambit position.

White should White be thinking about? Well, with both King and Queen on the e-file, one of them should move, as Black is threatening ...Nxe4 and if Qxe4 then ...Re8, winning the Queen. (Technically, Black wins a Queen and a pawn for a Knight and a Rook.)

So 11.O-O would be a reasonable choice.

11.f5

Chasing a familiar Jerome Gambit series of moves.

Well, this is a blitz game, so even players rated almost 2400 can be given a bit of leeway.

11...Ne5 

Black, rated about 1950, takes his oppoent at his word.

Afterward, they both probably found 11...Bxf5 12.O-O (12.exf5 Re8) 12...Be6. 

12.d4 Neg4 

Instead, 12...Nc4 was full of tricks. White would be foolish to be distracted by 13.Qb3 b5 14.Qxb5, as 14...Re8 would be a reminder as to where the action was going to take place: the center. Instead, 13.Qd3 would be met by 13...Re8 (13...b5 would be okay, too, but the pawn would no longer draw the enemy Queen away), when White should castle. The Knight on c4 would then best be supported with 14...b5, and after 15.Nc3 Bb7 15.Bg5 Black would still have the advantage. 

13.Qb3+ 

It is interesting that this check is more effective with Black's advanced Knight out of the way.

I wasn't as direct in my own game against SkypeFro (see "Tactics Galore"), when I played 13.Qf3, 14 years ago (1/2 - 1/2, 39).

13...d5 

Good, although it allows White's e-pawn to slip by.

A wild alternative was 13...Kf8 14.h3 Qe7!? 15.O-O!? Qxe4 16.hxg4 Qxg4, when 17.Rf4 Qd1+ 18.Rf1 Qg4 19.Rf4 etc. would lead to a draw, while 17.Be3 Bxf5 18.Nc3 Re8 would probably leave White with an equal game.

14.e5 Ne4 

Those Knights...

15.e6+ Bxe6 

Returning the extra piece for two pawns.

There were more tactics after 15...Ke8 16.O-O Rf8 17.Nc3 Qh4!? when 18.h3 Ngf2 19.Nxe4 Nxe4 would at least solve the "problem" of Black's two Knights.

16.fxe6+ Kxe6 

Black's King is at risk.

17.Nd2 Nxd2 

There was also the wild 17...Qh4+ 18.g3 Nxg3 19.Nf3 Qh5 20.Ng5+!? Kf6 21.Qxg3 Rae1+ 22.Kf1 when the computer evaluates White as more than a piece better, but who can tell, especially in a 5-minute game.

18.Bxd2 b6 19.O-O-O Nf6 

Material is even, but White's King is much safer, and he has better development. Black works to shore up his position.

20.Rde1+ Kf7 21.Bg5 Re8 22.Rhf1 Rxe1+ 23.Rxe1 c6 

24.Qh3 h6 25.Qe6+ Kf8 

Intuitively - this is a blitz game, thinking time is limited - the King should be safer on his home rank, but it would actually be better on g6.

26.Bf4 Ne4 27.Rxe4 Black resigned

White's Bishop wants to reach d6 with check, and the exchange sacrifice, removing an essential defender, does the job.

Now, after 27...dxe4, Black will have to give up his Queen after 28.Bd6+.

Black resigned

Jerome Gambit: Shorter, Yet

In a recent blog post I made the offhand comment about short games

Probably my favorite line comes from one of my own games, in "Accelerated Jerome Gambit Declined"

perrypawnpusher - NN

blitz, FICS, 2013

1.e4 Black resigned

I just discovered that another one of my recent games was over before it began, before either my opponent or I had made a move.

By way of explanation, I found on the game site

On chess.com, a game is aborted when a player cancels the game before either player has made their first move... When a game is aborted, it is canceled and neither player is credited with a win or loss. Aborted games are also not recorded in the player's game history. However, some players may also abort games intentionally, especially when theyare losing or when playing against a higher ranked opponent. 

Heh. "Higher ranked opponent." I kind of like the sound of that.

 

Jerome Gambit: A Good Example

The goal of the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) is to attack the enemy King.

The following game is a good example.

Witzelsucht - Dencoln

3 2 blitz, 2023 Autumn Marathon, 2023

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.Nc3 Qe7 11.O-O Kf7 

White's King has castled. Black's King is halfway there.

Black has the standard piece-for-two-pawns material advantage that the defender has in the Jerome Gambit; but he has to be ready for the advance of the "Jerome pawns" and the following attack. 

12.f4 Re8 13.f5 Ne5 14.d4 Nc6 15.Bd2 

15...Bxf5 

Black makes an interesting mistake, the kind that can happen in blitz games. He sees that White's e-pawn is pinned (16.exf5 Qxe3+ 17.Bxe3 Rxe3) but overlooks the protection of the f-pawn by the Rook.

16.Rxf5 g6 17.Rxf6+ 

“When you come to a fork in the road, take it” said baseball player Yogi Berra.

17...Kxf6 18.Rf1+ Kg7 19.Qh6+ Kg8 20.Nd5 

White's pieces continue to swarm.

20...Qe6 21.Nf6+ Kh8 22.Qxh7 checkmate

Jerome Gambit: The Daily Grind

The following Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) game made it to the half-century mark in terms of moves, as Bill Wall systematically ground down his opponent.

Wall, Bill - Ahmad

SparkChess.com, 2024

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Kf8 

7.Qxe5 d6 8.Qg3 Nf6 9.d3 Bb6 

Bill has also faced 

9...Nh5 in Wall,B - Guest6614602, PlayChess.com, 2014 (1/2-1/2, 53); Wall,B - Guest3611504, PlayChess.com, 2015 (0-1, 54) and Wall,B - Guest9159455, PlayChess.com, 2019 (0-1, 31);  

9...Be6 in Wall,B - Milsrilion, Chess.com, 2010 (1-0, 50); 

9... Kf7 in Wall,B - Badbeat994, Chess.com, 2010 (1-0, 48); 

9...Ng4 in Wall,B - Filipmihov, FICS, 2012 (1-0, 39); 

9... h6 in Wall,B - Guest1055608, PlayChess.com, 2019 (1-0, 26); and

9...Bg4 in Wall,B - Guest2928386, PlayChess.com, 2015 (1-0, 38) 

10.O-O Kf7 11.Kh1 Rf8 12.f4 Kg8 

13.Nc3 a6 14.f5 Bd4 15.Be3 Be5 16.Qf3 Qe8 

Black overlooks that this move puts his Bishop in danger. He could have kept his advantage with either 16...d5 or 16...c5. 

17.d4 Bxh2 

Black could have complicated things with 17...Nxe4.

The text move gains a pawn in exchange for the beleaguered piece.

18.Kxh2 Bd7 19.Rh1 c6 20.Bf4 d5 21.e5 Ne4 

22.e6 Bc8 

If this were a blitz game, he might have tried 22...Rxf5 23.exd7 Qf7 24.Rhf1 Nd2 25.Bxd2 Rxf3 26.Rxf3 Qxd7 when maybe his Queen could have been more effective than White's 3 extra pieces, with the clock ticking.

As it is, he can grab one of the two annoying "Jerome pawns", but the situation still favors the first player.

23.Nxe4 dxe4 24.Qxe4 Qh5+ 25.Kg3 Qxf5 26.Rae1 Qxe4 27.Rxe4 Re8 

With all the Rooks on the board, any drawing chances due to the Bishops-of-opposite-colors will have to wait.

28.e7 Bf5 29.Re2 Kf7 30.Bd6 h6 31.Kf4 Be6 32.Rf2 Bd5 33. Ke5+ Kg8 

This King retreat will cost the exchange.

34.Rf8+ Rxf8 35.exf8=Q+ Rxf8 36.Bxf8 Kxf8 37.Rf1+ Ke7 

The Rook now proceeds to outplay the Bishop.

38. a4 g5 39. Rh1 Bxg2 40. Rxh6 g4 41. Rh7+ Ke8 42. Rxb7 Bf3 43. Kf4 Kd8 44. Rb6 Kc7 45. Rxa6 Bd1 46. a5 Bxc2 47. Kxg4 Bd3 48. Rb6 Bc4 49. Rb4 Bb5 50.Rxb5 

Simplifying things.

50...cxb5 51.b4 Black resigned

Jerome Gambit: One Reason to Play

One reason to play the Jerome Gambit is that you can occasionally finish a game quickly - like this:

Cristopher_Sonido13 - Stefcho2020

3 0 blitz, lichess.org, 2024

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Ke8 6.Qh5+ Kf8 7.Qf7 checkmate

Blackburne Shilling Jerome Gambit: What Is In A Name?

                          

The following game starts as a Blackburne Shilling Gambit, although I have not been able to find a single example of Joseph Henry Blackburne ever playing the line.

It features the Blackburne Shilling Jerome Gambit, although I have also failed to find an example of Blackburne playing the Jerome Gambit. (Destroying it, yes.)

The name fits, though, as it is thematically right on target.

Serving2021 - Aromel143

3 0 blitz, lichess.org, 2024

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nd4 

The Blackburne Shilling Gambit.

4. Bxf7+ 

The Blackburne Shilling Jerome Gambit.

Objectively better is 4.Nxd4, 4.O-O, or 4.d3, but White is feeling aggressive.

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Ke8 6.Qh5+ 

Again, the computer considers 6.c3 Ne6 7.d4 Nf6 8.O-O d6 to be the preferred line, but that is not the direction White is heading.

6...g6 7.Nxg6 hxg6 8.Qxh8 Qg5 

Black has aggressive intentions as well. The Queen move is thematic in the Blackburne Shilling Gambit.

This time, Black wanders away from the computer's suggestion of 

8...Nxc2+ 9.Kd1 Nxa1 10.Qxg8 which would be better for him, although The Database shows Black scoring 50% in 214 games. 

9.Qxd4 Qxg2 10.Rf1 d6 11.Nc3 

The action is fast and furious, as you would expect from a 3-minute game.

11...Bg4 

Hoping to keep White's King in the middle of the board by preventing castling Queenside.

If White can get untangled, however, his advantage of the exchange plus two pawns should be winning.

12.Qe3 Qxh2 13.Qg3 

An exchange of Queens would help settle things down.

13...Qh5 

Tactics now win out.

14.Rg1 Nh6 15.d3 g5 16.Nd5 Kd7 17.Nf6+ Black resigned

Jerome Gambit: Attack the King

 

A new Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) video from Chess Tricks & Treats presents the kind of brutal attacking play targeting Black's King that Alonzo Wheeler Jerome would have enjoyed.

It is worth playing over the video, with the voice over commentary, as well as checking out the other videos available from Chess Tricks & Treats.

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ke6 7.f4 Qf6 8.Rf1 d6 9.d4 Bb4+ 10.c3 Ba5 11.Qe8+ Qe7 12.d5+ Kf6 13.fxe5+ Kxe5 14.Qh5+ Kxe4 15.Rf4+ Kd3+ 16.Kf1 Qf6 17.Qd1 checkmate