The Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) has become popular with club players, of late, and certain lines have become very popular. The following game is an example of the kind of attack that can develop, but there are some good recent games in the notes, too, that are worth playing over, as well. gumman - utku_rome 1 0 bullet, lichess.org, 2020 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+
White's Bishop sacrifice in the Jerome Gambit brings the enemy King to the f-file. Often, Black's defense brings his Queen there. After White castles - the f-file can become a dangerous place, as the following game shows. Wall, Bill - Guest744598 PlayChess.com, 2020 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+
4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ g6
7.Qxe5 Qe7 Whistler's Defense, named for Lt. G. N. Whistler, secretary of the Lexington, Kentucky Chess Club, who played a correspondence match using the line against Alonzo Wheeler Jerome, in 1876. 8.Qf4+ Qf6 9.Qg3 Bd6 10.f4
A small improvement over 10.Qc3, seen in Wall,B - Guest3289310, PlayChess.com, 2012: 10...Qxc3 11.Nxc3 Be5 12.O-O Bxc3 13.bxc3 d6 14.d4 Ne7 15.f4 Rf8 16.d5 Kg8 17.Re1 Bd7 18.c4 Rae8 19.Rb1 b6 20.e5 dxe5 21.fxe5 Nc8 22.e6 Ba4 23.Re2 Nd6 24.Rb4 b5 25.c5 Nc4 26.g4 a5 27.Rb3 Bxb3 28.cxb3 Rf3 29.bxc4 bxc4 30.d6 cxd6 31.cxd6 Rd3 32.d7 Ra8 33.Rd2 Kf8 34.Rxd3 cxd3 35.Ba3+ Kg8 36.e7 Kf7 37.d8=Q Rxd8 38.exd8=Q Black resigned. 10...Bxf4 This pawn grab is not as good as Bill's suggestion, 10...Bc5. 11.Qb3+ Qe6 Better, 11...d5. 12.O-O
12...Qxb3 13.Rxf4+ Kg7 14.axb3 d6
15.d4 Ne7 16.Nc3 Bd7 17.Be3 a6
Black safeguards his a-pawn before moving his Rook. However, this gives up a vital tempo that turns over the f-file to White. 18.Raf1 Rhe8 Normally, Black could challenge the file, say, with 18...Rhf8, but here it would be met by 19.Rxf8 Rxf8 20.Bh6+ followed by 21.Rxf8. 19.Rf7+ Kh8 20.Bg5 Nc6 21.Bf6+ Kg8 22.Rxd7
Black resigned If he challenges along the f-file, he is liable to run into the notorious chess "windmill", giving up material - 22...Rf8 23.Rg7+ Kh8 24.Rxc7+ Kg8 25.Rg7+ Kh8 26.Rxb7+ Kg8 27.Rg7+ Kh8 28.Rc7+ Rxf6 29.Rxf6 Nb4 30.Rff7, when checkmate is coming. [Dear Readers: For the record, this is blog post #3,000. If you were to read them all, taking a minute per post, it would take you 50 hours. You could also follow the links in each post that interest you, or use the "Search This Blog" function to find something or someone specifically. Thanks for visiting. -Rick]
The following game shows White grabbing the initiative and pressing for advantage. This forces Black's pieces back, and then the defender is unable to deal with what follows. Wall, Bill - anonymous lichess.org, 2020 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+
4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.d4 Bb6
A reasonable response. 7.dxe5 Qh4 This might look surprising, but Bill was 7-0 against it before this game. 8.Qf3+ Ke8 9.Nc3 c6
Black has castled-by-hand. White starts his pawns forward to grab the initiative. 20.f4 Nc7 21.f5 Qf7
The Queen would be safer at h5. 22.e6 dxe6 23.fxe6 Qxf1+ A tactical oversight. 24.Rxf1 Rxf1+ 25.Kxf1 Bxe6 After 25...Nxe6, Black would have a Rook and a Knight for a Queen and a pawn. 26.Bxc7 Black resigned
The following game illustrates the classic battle between the "Jerome pawns" and the extra piece that the defender has. Clearly, the pawns have the upper hand throughout most of the game. Wall, Bill - Anonymous lichess.org, 2020 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+
4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.d4 Nc6
This is a reasonable response to 6.d4, although it allows White to follow up with another thematic Jerome Gambit move. 7.Qh5+ Kf8 Bill has also seen 7...g6, in Wall,B - Lamjung, lichess.org, 2017 (1-0, 21). 8.Qxc5+ Qe7
A pretty dramatic contrast, White's pawns vs Black's extra piece. 13.d5 Bd7 14.e5 dxe5 This is a tough choice. Retreating the Knight with 14...Nfg8 might have been a little better. 15.fxe5 Ng4 16.e6 Be8 17.O-O+ Kg8
White's pawns are annoying - and they aren't finished. 18.Bf4 Rc8 19.c5 Nf6 20.d6 cxd6 21.cxd6
21...h5 This does not solve Black's problems. Bill recommends 21...Nc6 22.Bg5 when it will be difficult for the defender to avoid returning material. 22.Bg5 Kh7 23.Rxf6 gxf6 24.Bxf6 Rg8 25.Bxe7
The Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) is largely known for its wild"Bashi-Bazouk" style of attack. However, in the following game, Bill Wall, with over 950 games in The Database, shows he can play the Jerome slow and easy, as well.
10.h3 b5 Black believes he has trapped White's offside Knight. He is mistaken. In his attempt to hold things together, he surrenders his advantage. 11.Qb3+ d5 Bill suggests 11...Kg6 12.Qxb5 Qe8 and White has grabbed the pawn, but he still has work to do. 12.Qxb5 Qd6
The following 1-minute, no increment, game starts off like a "normal" Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) game, but quickly becomes an exercise in Run For Your Life! Lessons about the opening are swiftly replaced by lessons about intuition and rapid manual dexterity. I know that the Jerome Gambit is often best played at high speed, but this game left me breathless...
7.f4 Bf2+ This counter sacrifice is seen in other lines of the Jerome Gambit, followed by a forced exchange of Queens. Here, it seems to be more of a "If you sacrifice to prevent my King from castling, I will sacrifice to prevent your King from castling" kind of thing. Its psychological value in a 1-minute bullet game is clear: there is not a lot of time for White to answer the question "Just what is he doing?" 8.Kxf2 Ng6
Also seen: 8...Qf6 9.Qf5+ Qxf5 10.exf5+ Kxf5 11.fxe5 Kxe5 12.d4+ Kxd4 13.Be3+ Ke5 14.c3 Nf6 15.Bd4+ Ke6 16.Re1+ Kf7 17.Bxf6 gxf6 18.Nd2 d6 19.Kg1 Bd7 20.Rf1 Rae8 21.Nf3 Re2 22.g3 Rxb2 23.Ng5+ Kg6 24.Ne4 f5 25.Nf2 Re8 26.Nh3 Kg7 27.Rae1 Rxe1 28.Rxe1 Bc6 29.Nf4 Rxa2 30.Re7+ Kf6 31.Rxc7 Ra1+ 32.Kf2 Ra2+ 33.Ke3 Rxh2 34.Kd4 Rd2+ 35.Ke3 Rc2 36.Rxh7 Rxc3+ 37.Kf2 Rf3+ 38.Ke2 Ra3 39.Rh6+ Ke7 40.Rh7+ Kf6 41.Kd2 Ke5 42.Re7+ Kd4 43.Ne2+ Kc5 44.Rf7 Ra2+ 45.Ke3 b5 46.Rxf5+ d5 47.g4 Ra3+ 48.Kf2 b4 49.g5 Bb5 50.Nf4 Ra2+ 51.Kg3 Bc4 52.g6 b3 53.g7 b2 54.g8=Q b1=Q 55.Qc8+ Kd4 56.Ne6+ Ke4 57.Rf4+ Ke5 58.Qc7+ Kxe6 59.Qf7+ Kd6 60.Qf6+ Kc5 61.Qd4+ Kb4 62.Kg4 Black resigned, Chesssninja - Caarreeyy, 5 0 blitz, FICS, 2020. Now, if Black had time, he could force the exchange of Queens, after all, with ...Qh4+ - but White acts decisively first. 9.f5+ Kf7 10.fxg6+ hxg6 11.Qxh8
White has enough material to win. Does he have enough time? 11...d5 12.Rf1 Qh4+ Frantic. 13.Qxh4 Nf6 14.e5 Ne4+ 15.Kg1+ Ke6 16.d4 Bd7 17.Nd2 Rh8 18.Qg4+ Ke7 19.Qxg6 Nxd2 20.Bxd2 Be6 21.Qxg7+ Bf7 22.Rxf7+ Black resigned
