Jerome Gambit: Shhhh! It's A Secret

 

About 3 years ago I started a series of occasional posts presenting "Jerome Gambit Secrets" - moves or lines of play that were good, but were overlooked or rarely played.

To date, I have presented 15 of them. 

Dan Middlemiss - who continues to gift me with Jerome Gambit games - recently was amused that one of the secrets remains secret, even to this day.

I did a quick check of some of the earlier secrets.

"Jerome Gambit Secrets #1" remains unplayed.

"Jerome Gambit Secrets #2" remains unplayed

"Jerome Gambit Secrets #3" remains unplayed. (This is the one that has eluded both me and Dan.)

"Jerome Gambit Secrets #4" - "One of my favorite Jerome Gambit "secrets" has actually been solved, but the story is always a good one to tell. And tell again."

"Jerome Gambit Secrets #5" showed up earlier this year in  Littleplayerparis - Alfilpeligroso, 5 0 blitz, lichess.org, 2021. (No doubt, a game that Dan sent me. I guess I should post it.)

"Jerome Gambit Secrets #6" - "It is not often that an International Master makes a recommendation in the Jerome Gambit..." The move has been played, but rarely.

"Jerome Gambit Secrets #7" This has appeared in one of HauntedKnight's 476 Jerome Gambit games at FICS (according to The Database), but it remains mostly a secret.

You get the idea. I think I will stop the update here, but I will encourage interested Readers to use the "Search This Blog" function for Secrets #8 through #15.

Or, you could read this entire blog, from the start, all 3,465 posts, so you don't miss anything. Of course, at about 2 minutes per read, it would take you almost 3 full work weeks to accomplish that.

Jerome Gambit: Updating Early Secrets (Part 1)

A few years ago, in the post "Jerome Gambit: Shhhh! It's A Secret", I wrote

About 3 years ago [2018] I started a series of occasional posts presenting "Jerome Gambit Secrets" - moves or lines of play that were good [for Black or for White], but were overlooked or rarely played.

To date, I have presented 15 of them. [Currently 17]

Dan Middlemiss - who continues to gift me with Jerome Gambit games - recently was amused that one of the secrets remains secret, even to this day.

I did a quick check of some of the earlier secrets.

"Jerome Gambit Secrets #1" remains unplayed.

"Jerome Gambit Secrets #2" remains unplayed

"Jerome Gambit Secrets #3" remains unplayed. (This is the one that has eluded both me and Dan.)

It is time to update those "Secrets", each of which has now been played.

Secret #1 was a caution to the player of the White pieces in a variation of the Semi-Italian Jerome Gambit: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 h6 4.Nc3 Bc5 5.Bxf7+ Kxf7 6.Nxe5+ Nxe5 7.Qh5+ g6 8.Qxe5 Bf8

White should not take the Rook at h8.

You might remember that the iconic game Amateur - Blackburne, London, 1884 (0-1, 14) resulted in a sacrificial attack leading to a crushing win for Black. You might also remember that further analysis indicated that White could have escaped with at least a draw.

This position is different.

Capture at your own risk: 9.Qxh8 Bg7 10.Qh7 Nf6 and the Queen is lost.

The one game in The Database with 9.Qxh8 was better for Black, up until he fell victim of tactics late in the game.

Secret #2 was a similar caution to the player of the White pieces,also in a variation of the Semi-Italian Jerome Gambit: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 h6 4.0–0 Bc5 5.Bxf7+ Kxf7 6.Nxe5+ Nxe5 7.Qh5+ g6 8.Qxe5 Bf8 

White should not take the Rook at h8, for similar reasons to Secret #1: the Queen can be trapped and won, i.e. 9.Qxh8 Bg7 10.Qh7 Nf6.

It is true that there are 8 games in The Database, with White scoring 4 - 4, but that is misleading.

Secret #3 focused on more creativity by the player with the Black pieces: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Ke8 6.Nxc6 Qh4

This is a wild position that favors White, although the complications are reflected in the 8 games in The Database (White scores 4 - 4), and the 12 games in lichess.org, (White scores 5 - 5).

 

Jerome Gambit Secrets #3

As mentioned in the first "Jerome Gambit Secrets" post

If you play the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) you know that the best source of information on the opening is this blog. 

If you face the Jerome Gambit, however, the best source of information on defending against the opening is - this blog.
Across the 10 years that I have shared history, games and analysis, I have done my best to give the lines that give White the greatest opportunities to snatch victory from the jaws of this defeated - er, "refuted" - opening. 

I have also not shied away from presenting the various refutations, as well. 

Sometimes players have used my suggestions. Sometimes they have not. The "Jerome Gambit Secrets" posts will re-visit suggestions that appear to remain unplayed.

 Take for example, the play based on the following game. 

Blackstone, John - Dommeyer, Carl
skittles game, Campbell, California, 1960

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7

5.Nxe5+ Ke8 

Black decides to mix things up - some psychological warfare, perhaps - although the move is not "best". This is the first game example that I have in The Database (56,000+ Jerome and Jerome-ish games), but the position ultimately appears in 71 games; White scores 66%.

6.Qh5+

The Database gives this move in 34 games, and White scores 79%.

With that kind of success, it is not surprising that the improvement, 6.Nxc6, has not received as much play. The problem with the improvement it that it, too, faces an improvement.

The move 6.Nxc6 appears in 15 games in The Database, with White scoring 70%. That is a very reasonable outcome for the first player, but comparatively less successful than the text move, 6.Qh5+.

Why, then, choose this "better" move, especially since it can be met by 6...Qh4!? first mentioned in "You, too, can add to Jerome Gambit theory!" - and still having no examples in The Database? After all, Stockfish 9 recommends the messy 7.d4 Qxe4+ 8.Be3 bxc6 9.dxc5 Qxg2 10.Kd2 Qd5+ 11.Kc1 Ne7 12.Nc3 Qxd1+ 13.Rxd1 and White has an edge due to his bind on the Queenside, but it is not something to get too excited about.

analysis diagram





How is this better than the play in the game? Let's see.

6...g6 7.Nxg6 Bxf2+

Another psychological ploy for the defender in the Jerome Gambit is the "If you can sacrifice a Bishop, so can I!" maneuver. While not often useful, it is the best move in this position, as Black gets a pawn for the piece, instead of letting it hang. 

8.Kxf2

It seems fair to mention that 8.Kf1?! was played in jecree - lhoffman, 2 12 blitz, FICS, 2008 (1-0, 24), although the improvement 8...Nf6!? (which I mentioned 2 1/2 years ago in "A Long Day In the Life of the Jerome", and which has not yet appeared in The Database) would have likely reversed the outcome of the game. 

8...Qf6+ 

This move was played in all 5 games in The Database to reach this position, with White scoring 80%.

I am not sure of the attraction of the Queen move (except that it delivers check), but much better is 8...Nf6!?, mentioned here a decade ago, and still, as far as I know, unplayed. After Stockfish 9's 9.Qh4 Rg8 10.Rf1 Rxg6 11.Kg1 Qe7 12.d3 Black has a piece for two pawns and a more comfortable King than he often has in the Jerome Gambit, with better development - an advantage.

That is one argument in favor of the alternative 6.Nxc6.

After 9.Nf4+ Kd8 10.d3 Blackstone consolidated his game, had the advantage, and won in 13 moves. White took risks, and won - a very fine outcome for the Jerome Gambit.

Jerome Gambit: Stunned

If a defender is not familiar with the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+), missteps are easy to find. The following game is one example as to how the opening can be effective in club play - one slip, and Black has passed the point of no return.

TitoH - prosoccer
RedHotPawn.com, 2019

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Ke8 

Black turns the advantage over to White, in order to not play along with the attacker's plans. For a recent example, see "Jerome Gambit: Disease 1, Cure 0".

6.Qh5+ 

The consistent 6.Nxc6 is stronger, although it could lead to the aggressive 6...Qh4!? (There are still no examples of this move in The Database.)

6...g6 7.Nxg6

The Database has 38 games with this position. White scores a hefty 72%.

7...Qf6 

For an earlier discussion of this line, review "Jerome Gambit Secrets #3".

Black's strongest response was 7...Bxf2+, leading to a small advantage for him, after 8.Kxf2 Nf6. The earliest examples that I have of 7...Bxf2+ are the twin games Hultgren, R - Harrow, and Blackstone, J - Dommeyer, C, both played in Campbell, California and both played in 1960. Sadly - for Black - The Database has 10 games with the move, with White winning 8 of them.

8.Nxh8+ Ke7 9.d4 

9...Bxd4 

Tripping over White's out-stretched foot... 

10.Bg5 Bxf2+ 11.Ke2 Black resigned