Jerome Gambit: The Road More Travelled (Part 2)

 

[continued from the previous post]

10.Bg5 h6 11.Bh4 Kg8 12.Kh1 Be7 13.Bg3 Be6 

Black has developed his extra piece. Are his Bishops possible targets? I am ready to advance my "Jerome pawns" and find out.

14.f4 Ng4 

This move threatens a fork at e3, but otherwise does not accomplish much.

Stockfish 17.1's analysis combines maneuvering and tactics: 14...g6 15.h3 Kh7 16.Bh2 Rg8 17.Qe2 Qd7 18.Rf3 c5 19.Raf1 Rae8 20.b3 Qc6 21.Nd1 Nd7 22.c4 Bf6 23.Ne3 Bd4 24.Nc2 Bg7 25.Ne3 Rgf8 26.Nd5 Bg8 27.Qe1 Kh8 28.Qf2 Bxd5 29.cxd5 Qd6 30.f5 - interesting, but well over my and my opponent's head.

15.Qf3 Bc5 

The e3 square still calls to the Knight.

16.Rae1 Bb4 

Black's pieces look active, but they are actually just scattered.

17.h3 

Ejecting the enemy Knight. A bit stronger is 17.e5!?

17...Bxc3 18.bxc3 Nf6 

After the game was over, I listened to the "coach" at Chess.com provide feedback. It was mostly scolding, with a few complements scattered.

The fact is, although I played confidently, I have to repeat the truism: The more a person is in error, the stronger they may hold onto their opinion

19.e5 

After the game, Stockfish 17.1 pointed out that it was okay to sacrifice the a-pawn, preferring 19.f5 Bxa2 20.c4 b5 21.e5 bxc4 22.exf6 Rxe1 23.Rxe1 Qxf6 24.Re6 Qf7 25.Qxc6 Rd8 26.dxc4 Qxf5 27.Re7 Kh7 28.Qxc7 Rg8 29.Be5 Qg5 30.Bc3 Bb1 31.Re4 Qd8 32.Qxa7 Bxc2 33.Re7 Qd1+34.Kh2 Qd6+ 35.g3 White is assesed as about 3 pawns better

Okay, that's pretty funny. In real life, I am rated over-the-board a low Class B player, and such in-depth analysis makes my head spin...

19...Nd5 20.f5 Rf8 

This much, I understand: White's pawns are rolling, and Black's Rook pins the f-pawn, preserving his Bishop.

[to be continued]

Jerome Gambit: The Road More Travelled (Part 1)

My most recent Jerome Gambit game was like traveling down a road that I had visited many times before.

There are a lot of links to games in the notes.

perrypawnpusher - GatorOpening

3d/move, Chess.com, 2026

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Kf8 

The March 1875 issue of The Dubuque Chess Journal contained the game Jerome - Brownson, Iowa, 1875 (1/2 - 1/2, 29), in which this move first appeared.

Black assesses his position as good enough that he does not need to capture White's Knight. 

I decided to not give him a second chance.

6.Nxc6 dxc6 

Capturing with the d-pawn puts pressure down the d-file and prevents me from playing d2-d4.

7.O-O 

It is also reasonable to play 7.d3 followed by 8.O-O, as in perrypawnpusher - fortytwooz, blitz, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 29); perrypawnpusher - Jore, FICS, 2010 (0-1, 16); perrypawnpusher - Conspicuous, blitz, FICS, 2011 (1-0, 13);  perrypawnpusher - Lark, FICS, 2011, (1-0, 12); and perrypawnpusher - pitrisko, blitz, FICS, 2011 (0-1, 30). 

7...Nf6 

I have faced a variety of defenses:

7...Qh4 as in perrypawnpusher - Al-der, Chess.com, 2019 (1-0, 26); 

7...Ne7 as in perrypawnpusher - smarlny, blitz, FICS 2011 (1-0, 25); 

7...Be6 as in perrypawnpusher - CorH, blitz, FICS, 2009 (0-1, 74); perrypawnpusher - spince, blitz, FICS, 2013 (1-0, 29); and perrypawnpusher - PasayDefence, Piano Piano, Chess.com 2020 (1/2-1/2, 57);  

7... Bd6 as in perrypawnpusher - Lark, blitz, FICS, 2009 (1-0, 18); 

7... h5 as in perrypawnpusher - jackedU711, Giuoco Piano Game, Chess.com 2023 (1/2-1/2, 14); and

7...Qf6 as in perrypawnpusher - DaniyarManat, Chess.com 2021 (1-0, 19) 

8.d3 Kf7 

Planning to castle-by-hand.

I have also faced 8...h6 as in perrypawnpusher - vladchess, blitz, FICS, 2011 (1/2-1/2, 46);

and 8...Bg4 as in perrypawnpusher - MRBarupal, blitz, FICS, 2011 (1-0, 13); perrypawnpusher - MRBarupal,  blitz, FICS, 2011 (1-0, 24); and perrypawnpusher - hamadkargarfard7, Jerome Gambit Classic #1, 2024 (1-0, 25); 

9.Nc3 Re8 

Or 9...Rf8 10.Bg5 Kg8 11.e5 Bg4 draw, perrypawnpusher - Ykcir, blitz, FICS rated blitz 2009.

After the game Stockfish 17.1 (31 ply) rated this position as about 1 3/4 pawns better for Black.

As the poet Robert Frost (an avid chessplayer) said, I had miles to go before I sleep...

[to be continued]

Not (Yet) the Jerome Gambit

In 1988 (20 years before this blog began, and more than a dozen years before my fascination with the Jerome Gambit), Caissa Editions published The Marshall Gambit in the French and Sicilian Defenses, by Rick Kennedy (that's me) and Riley Sheffield, with an Introduction by openings explorer Hugh E. Myers. (The title was previously briefly mentioned on this blog about 10 times.)

The book focused on two lines of play for Black, 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 c5!? and 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 d5!?.

Much of the research within those pages came from visits to the White Collection in the Cleveland Public Library - the largest publicly accessible collection of chess items in the world.

That investigating was productive - and, largely, necessary, as at that time commercial chess game databases had hardly appeared: ChessBase 1, for the Atari ST computer, came out in 1987; and ChessBase 2, for the PC running DOS, came out a year later. (ChessBase for Windows appeared in 1994.)

Relatedly, Fritz 1 (named Knightstalker in the US), an analysis and playing chess engine, appeared as an MS-DOS program in 1991. 

In preparing the book manuscript, Riley and I also put together a chapter on a "reversed Marshall Gambit", 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5 exd5 4.c4, but eventually decided to leave it out when the book went to press, as it was incomplete.

(One variation of the "reversed", coming out of the Queen's Gambit Accepted, is as old as the Göttingen manuscript of 1490, i.e. 1.d4 d5 2.c4 dxc4 3.e3 e5 4.Bxc4 exd4 5.exd4) 

In any event, today's blog post was inspired by the recent appearance of The Exchange French: The Monte Carlo Variation in Theory & Practice by Vladimir Okhotnik (Russell Enterprises).

(The Exchange French Comes to Life by Alex Fishbein [2021] had a dozen pages on what the author called the Miezis Variation, after Grandmaster Normunds Miezis, who has played it over 250 times, coming out of the English Opening, i.e. 1.c4 e6 2.e4 d5 3.exd5 exd5 4.d4)  

Any day now, the post will deliver Okhotnik's book, and a small part of my chess life will have come full circle.

Jerome Gambit: Tournaments Update Update

 

In "Tournaments Update" I reported

My play in the second Chess.com's "Italian opning rapid players" tournment has come to the end.

Although the top-rated player, I will finish fourth (not all the other players' games are completed) with a score of 12 - 4 - 6. 

Tadeasek200 is running away from the field with a score of 19 - 0 - 1, with two games left to complete.

In fact, Tadeasek200 finished in first place in "Italian opning rapid players", scoring 20 - 1 - 1. The one loss was on time. I knicked him for his one draw.

Continuing from "Tournaments Update"

I managed to play 2 Jerome Gambits - wins against BIJAN_H_F and diegorocha82 - and 2 Noa gambits - draws against Tadeasek200 and Serega40.

Updating other tournament news

In the meantime, I have 2 games to complete in the Chess.com "Not only the Italians plays the Italian game" - both against JAMARTINO, which will decide second place.

In Round One of  "Not only the Italians plays the Italian game", Group 15, I played a Semi-Italian Four Knights Jerome Gambit, a Blackburne Shilling Jerome Gambit, and a Noa Gambit.

I did well enough to move on to Round Two, Group 6, where I scored 6 - 0 - 0, managing a Semi-Italian Four Knights Jerome Gambit and a Noa Gambit; placing me in position to move on to Round Three.

Also, I have scored 2 - 0 - 0 in the third round of the Chess.com

"BISHOP'S OPENING CUP 2025". As I mentioned in "Jerome Gambit: Games Update"

My hope is to play a number of Abrahams Jerome Gambits, 1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Bc5 3.Bxf7+, a line that I have not tried before, but is worth exploring.

So far, no luck in being able to play an Abrahams Jerome. There are 4 games left in the third round of "BISHOP'S OPENING CUP 2025" so I soon shall have some more chances.

Jerome Gambit: Best Gambit Against Beginners Video

It's a short YouTube video, but the title says it all: "Best Gambit Against Beginners! - Jerome Gambit", by FuoriChess.

The creator has a number of videos at @FuoriChess with titles starting "Best...", "Beat...", "Destroy...", and "Most..."

Why not swing by and give it a look?

Jerome Gambit: Target the Enemy King

The Jerome Gambit is designed to remove the enemy King's defenses. The following game illustrates.

angel_camina - ourusboros

1 1 bullet, internet, 2026

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Nc3 Bc5 5.Bxf7+ 

The Italian Four Knights Jerome Gambit

4...Kxf7 6.Nxe5+ Nxe5 7.d4 Bd6 

7...d5!?

8.dxe5 Bxe5 9.f4 Bxc3+ 10.bxc3

White has an extra pawn, Black has an extra piece.

10...Nxe4 

This pawn grab, however, loses a piece - but only if White is careful.

11.Qd5+ Kf6 

Or 11...Kf8 12.Qxe4 Qe7 13.Qxe7+ Kxe7 14.O-O d6 15.Bb2 Kf7 16.f5 Rf8 17.c4 Kg8 18.Rae1 Bxf5? 19.Rxf5? Rxf5 20.Re7 Raf8? 21.Rxg7+ Kh8 22.Rxc7+ R5f6 23.Rxb7 Kg8 24.Bxf6 Rxf6 25.Rxa7 d5 26.cxd5 Rd6 27.c4 Rd8 28.Rc7 Kf8 29.a4 Ke8 30.Rxh7 Rd7 31.Rxd7 Kxd7 32.c5 Kc7 33.g4 Kb7 34.h4 Ka6 35.d6 Ka5 36.d7 Kb4 37.d8=Q Ka3 38.c6 Ka2 39.c7 Kb3 40.c8=Q Kb441.a5 Ka4 42.a6 Ka3 43.a7 Ka2 44.a8=Q+ Kb2 45.Qab7+ Ka1 46.Qa5 checkmate, angelcamina - Yotta666, 1 0 bullet, lichess.org, 2025) 

12.Qe5+ 

Also 12.Bb2 d6 13.O-O-O Re8 White has an edge.

12...Kg6 

Risky.

Better is 12...Kf7, i.e. 13.Qf5+ (13.Qd5+ Kf6 14.Qe5+ Kf7 15.Qd5+ 1/2 - 1/2, angelcamina - TaxationIsSlavery, 1 0 bullet, lichess.org, 2020) 13...Nf6 (13...Qf6 14.Qd5+ Qe6 15.Qh5+ g6 16.Qf3 (16.Qe5 Qxe5 17.fxe5 Nxc3 18.O-O+ Kg7 19.Bb2 Ne4 20.e6+ Kh6 21.Bxh8 dxe6 22.Rae1 Nd2 23.Rf2 Nc4 24.Rf7 Nd6 25.Rxc7 b6 26.Bg7+ Kh5 27.Re5+ g5 28.Bf6 h6 29.h3 Bb7 30.Kh2 Nf5 31.g4+ Kg6 32.gxf5+ Kxf6 33.Rxe6+ Kxf5 34.Rxh6 Be4 35.Rf7+ Black resigned angelcamina - komtex, 1 0 bullet, lichess.org, 2025) 16...Ng3+ 17.Kf2 Nxh1+ White resigned, angelcamina - Carlengo, 1 0 bullet, lichess.org, 2024) 14.O-O Rf8 15.Ba3 d6 16.Qg5 Kg8 17.Rae1 b6 18.Bb2 Bb7 19.c4 d5 20.c5 bxc5 21.Be5 d4 22.Qh4 h6 23.g4 Qd7 24.g5 Ne4 25.gxh6 gxh6 26.Qg3+ Kh7 27.Qd3 Black resigned, angelcamina - Magic777, 1 1 bullet, lichess.org, 2020) 

13.Qxe4+ Kf7 14.O-O Re8 

Material is even, but King safety is not.

15.Qc4+ 

It was okay to pawn-grab with 15.Qxh7.

angelcamina had also tried 15.Qd5+ Kf8 16.Ba3+ d6 17.Rae1 Qf6 18.Rxe8+ Kxe8 19.Re1+ Kf8 20.g3 Qxc3 21.Qe4 Bh3 22.Qe7+ Kg8 23.Bc1 Qxc2 White resigned, angelcamina - gpettas21, 1 0 bullet, lichess.org, 2025 

15...Re6 

Must be the clock.

16.f5 d5 17.fxe6+ Kxe6 18.Qe2+ Black resigned

Jerome Gambit: Surrounded

It can be easy to forget that our favorite chess opening, the Jerome Gambit - for all of its fun and adventure - is a "refuted" line of play that can sometimes surround the first play with all sorts of difficulties.

In the following games, a very experienced and successful Jerome Gambit expert finds this out, as he moves in and out of danger that seems all around him.

angel_camina - nicolagoestosc

1 1 bullet, lichess.org, 2026

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ng6 

7.Qd5+ Ke8 8.Qxc5 N8e7 

Not the sharpest tool in the toolbox, but enough to maintain an advantage, according to Stockfish 17.1.

9.O-O d6 10.Qc4 Qd7 

If there is an issue with Black's response, it hasn't proven worse than alternatives that angelcamina has faced 

10...Nc6 11.f4 Bd7 12.Nc3 Qe7 13.d4 Rf8 14.f5 Nh8 15.Nd5 Qd8 16.Bg5 Qxg5 17.Nxc7+ Ke7 18.Nxa8 Rxa8 19.e5 dxe5 20.dxe5 Qe3+ 21.Kh1 Qb6 22.f6+ gxf6 23.exf6+ Kd8 24.Qg8+ Kc7 25.Qg3+ Kd8 26.f7 Nxf7 27.Rxf7 Be8 28.Rd1+ Kc8 29.Qg4+ Kb8 30.Rf8 Qd8 31.Rxd8+ Nxd8 32.Rxe8 Kc7 33.Re7+ Kb6 34.Qd7 Nc6 35.Qxb7+ Kc5 36.b4+ Kc4 37.Re4+ Kc3 38.Qxc6+ Kb2 39.Qc4 White won on time,  angelcamina - SIIAMS, 1 0 bullet, lichess.org, 2023; 

10...b6 11.f4 a5 12.f5 Ba6 13.Qa4+ Qd7 14.Qxd7+ Kxd7 15.d3 Ne5 16.Nc3 Rad8 17.Bf4 Kc8 18.Bg5 h6 19.Bh4 Rde8 20.Rf2 N7c6 21.Nd5 Nd4 22.c3 Ndc6 23.d4 Nc4 24.b3 Ne3 25.Re1 Nxd5 26.exd5 Rxe1+ 27.Rf1 Rxf1 checkmate, angelcamina - misterbean732, 1 0 bullet, lichess.org, 2023; and 

10...Bd7 11.f4 Rf8 12.f5 Ne5 13.Qe2 N7c6 14.d4 Nxd4 15.Qd3 Nxd3 16.cxd3 Ne2+ White resigned, angelcamina - khadija2025, 1 0 bullet, lichess.org, 2025; 

11.f4 c6 

Preparing ...d5, which could have been played immediately, but never actually gets played in the game.

12.f5 Ne5 13.Qb3 

White's Queen is doing a lot of work here.

13...Rf8 14.d4 Ng4 15.Qg3 Nf6 16.Qxg7 

Danger? Ha! I laugh at danger.

16...Nxe4 17.Bh6 

Not showing any interest in 17.Nc3 Nxc3 18.bxc3 Rf7 19.Qh8+ Rf8 20.Qg7 Rf7 21.Qh8+ Rf8 etc, draw 

17...Rg8 18.Qxh7 

Hungry, hungry Queen.

18...Nf6 

Awkward.

19.Qxg8+ Nexg8 20.Nc3 Kd8 

Choosing King safety over further material gain.

21.Rae1 

This is a bullet game: attack until it is over, one way or another.

21...Kc7 

22.Bf4 b6 23.d5 c5 24.Nb5+ Kb7 

Has to be the clock; otherwise, 24...Qxb5.

25.Nxd6+ Ka6 

To avoid the repeated checks (and a draw) if the King goes to b8 or c7; up until move 24, Black was winning handily - all things being equal, although in bullet chess they frequently are not.

26.Re3 

After 26.Rf3 b5 27.Ra3+ Kb6 White would have 28.Re6.

26...Bb7 

Defending is more difficult than attacking - especially when the clock is ticking.

27.Ra3+ Black resigned

It is checkmate after 27...Qa4 28.Rxa4 mate.