At the chess club the other day, an elementary school player challenged me to a 1 0 game of chess.
I pointed out that, at my age, I couldn't even move that fast, let alone think that fast.
He went over to check on four players involved in bugouse chess, and listened to a discussion of duck chess.
I sat there, feeling old.
(However, later, without a clock, I checkmated that young whippersnapper.)
In the following Jerome Gambit game, the defender can choose to protect his King or to strike back in the center.
He chooses his King - and then doesn't - and has to deal with the consequences.
angelcamina - bullet62
1 0 bullet, lichess.org, 2024
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Nc3 Bc5 5.Bxf7+
4...Kxf7 6.Nxe5+ Nxe5 7.d4 Rf8
The thematic 7..d5 was for choice.
8.dxe5 Ne8
He would do better to continue his hand-castling, e.g. 8...Kg8 as in angelcamina - erfin, 1 0 bullet, lichess.org, 2020: 9.exf6 Bxf2+ 10.Kxf2 Qxf6+ 11.Qf3 Qd4+ 12.Be3 Rxf3+ 13.gxf3 Qf6 14.Rhg1 d6 15.Bg5 Qd4+ 16.Be3 Qb4 17.Rg3 Qxb2 18.Bd4 Qxc2+ 19.Ne2 Be6 20.Rxg7+ Kf8 21.Rag1 Re8 22.Rxh7 c5 23.Bc3 Qd3 24.Rgg7 b5 25.Rh8+ Bg8 26.Rhxg8 checkmate.
9.Qd5+ Kg6
White dealt with the other retreat handily, 9...Ke7 10.Qxc5+ d6 11.exd6+ cxd6 12.Qg5+ Black resigned, angelcamina - kkkkkuuuuuuuu, 1 0 bullet, lichess.org, 2021.
10.Qxc5 d6
Slightly better than 11.Qd4 h6 12.O-O Kh7 13.f4 Be6 14.f5 Bg8 15.e6 Nf6 16.Nd5 c6 17.Nxf6+ Rxf6 18.b3 d5 19.e5 Rxe6 20.fxe6 Bxe6 21.Qd3+ Kh8 22.Bb2 Qd7 23.Rae1 Re8 24.Rf2 c5 25.Ref1 g6 26.Rf8+ Rxf8 27.Rxf8+ Kg7 28.Qf3 Qe7 29.Rf6 Black resigned, angelcamina - MF-S, 1 0 bullet, lichess.org, 2019
11...Nxd6 12.Qe3 Qf6 13.O-O h6 14.e5 Black resigned
The player DutchLiLi has almost 2,500 games in The Database (scoring 58%), with time controls of 3 minutes and 1 minute.
That's super fast.
DutchLiLi - BACollin
1 0 bullet, lichess.org, 2025
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+
4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ g6
Black can now go into Blackburne's defense with 7...d6, Whistler's defense with 7...Qe7, or come up with a defense of his own.
7...d6 8.Qxh8
White can take the Rook - if he knows what he is doing.
8...Qh4
9.O-O
The strongest move is 9.d4, but in a 1-minute game, will it matter?
9...Bh3
The move certainly has shock value.
Still, it appears in 34 games in The Database, and White scores 74%.
Perhaps Black got his moves mixed up? After 9...Nf6 10.Qd8 then 10...Bh3 and one side or the other can pursue multiple checks of the enemy King.
10.d4
White's one move for advantage is 10.Qc3.
10...Qg4
Instead, Black wins with the Blackburne-like offer of a Rook, 10...Nf6.
11.Qxh7+
White's Queen escapes, rushes to Her King's defense, and wins the game.
11...Kf6 12.Qxh3 Qg5
A slip, but it hardly matters.
13.dxc5
Giving the enemy Queen a chance to escape, but, again, it hardly matters.
13...dxc5 14.Bxg5+ Black resigned
SpeakChess
There is a very interesting website, SpeakChess ("Build an opening repertoire - and remember it under pressure") that covers, among other openings, the Jerome Gambit.
Special for this site, it is set so that one can "Train as White" or "Train as Black" for the opening, on the given board, as well as being able to "Explore All Variations".
Another section gives the first 12 moves of the Jerome, with explanations for each.
There is also a chart, compiled from online games, that shows "Wins by Rating".
There is a Frequently Asked Questions section, as well.
It is well worth taking a look.
I continue to be troubled by the game perrypawnpusher - NN, "The Italian Game" tournament, Chess.com, 2026 (1-0, 8), which began 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 g5.
From the earlier post, "Jerome Gambit: A New/Old Defense", my most recent examination
See "Jerome Gambit: Out-Stranged?" and "Jerome Gambit: Out-Stranged Post Script".
The earliest example of this defense [1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 g5] that I have seen is in Smeltzer,P - Elliott,J, Detroit, 1990 (0-1, 24).
I was shocked to find that there are 63,000 games with this line of play (Black scoring 45.5% overall) at lichess.org. The top player using the defense was rated at 3113.
A quick check today shows that there are now 65,000 games with this line of play in the lichess.org database - Black still scoring 45.5% - with no change in the rating of the top player using the defense.
Mind you, as compared to 50% for Black, against the Jerome Gambit. With those numbers, why avoid the Jerome?
The following Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) game focuses on the White Rook on a1, and the Black Rook on h8.
There are decisions to be made, and they affect the outcome of the game.
deusmach - Viraaj_011
10 0 blitz, lichess.org, 2023
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+
4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Ke8
A few comments -
From "Critical Line: 5...Kf8 (1)"
As early as his first Jerome Gambit article (Dubuque Chess Journal April, 1874), Alonzo Jerome considered the possibility that Black might refuse to capture the second piece with 5...Nxe5, and instead play for King safety instead with 5...Kf8.
In a letter to the American Chess Journal, March 1877, Jerome wrote
5...Kf8 leaves White's pawns intact while Black has lost two strong pawns and doubled another. This defense was adopted by G.J. Dougherty of Mineola, NY, a strong amateur, against whom I first played the opening, and I think he will agree that 5...Kf8 is not a good defense. He generally played 6.bc and that was the play of Mr. J. C. Young of Danville, KY, who subsequently abandoned the game. Why, I do not know, as it was not necessarily lost to either of us. It is a question with which Pawn it is best to take.
None of the analysts appear to have looked at 5…Ke8, which showed up in Blackstone - Dommeyer, skittles game, USA 1960, continuing: 6.Qh5+ g6 7.Nxg6 Bxf2+ 8.Kxf2 Qf6+ 9.Nf4+ Kd8 10.d3 d6 11.Rf1 Qd4+ 12.Be3 Qf6 13.c3 1-0 An improvement for White might be 6.Nxc6, leading to a roughly even game; while Black improves over the text with 8…Nf6, holding the advantage
6.d4
stretto - BenWB, blitz, FICS20071.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Ke8 6.d4 Bxd4 7.Nxc6 Bxf2+ 8.Kxf2 Qf6+ 9.Qf3 Qxc6 10.Rf1 Qc5+ 11.Be3 Qxc2+ 12.Nd2 Ne7 13.Kg1 Qxb2 14.Qf7+ Kd8 15.Qf8+ Rxf8 16.Rxf8 checkmate
