Jerome Gambit: Deja Vu, Yet Again

Writing notes to the following Jerome Gambit game took me back in time to many of my earlier games.

I have added links, in case you, too, Readers, want to go back in time.

perrypawnpusher - galactic_soldier_123

6th Thematic Quick KOs: Italian Game, Chess.com, 2026

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

The Italian Four Knights Jerome Gambit.

According to The Database, in 79 games with this line, I have scored 75%.

This compares with 499 games with the move order 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+, where I have scored 82%.

Practice makes... one play better.

5...Kxf7 6.Nxe5+ Nxe5 7.d4 Bxd4 8.Qxd4 d6 

Here we have a typical Jerome Gambit position, where White has a pawn for his sacrificed piece. He plans to make something of Black's slightly uneasy King.

Challenging, but I have been here before:

8...Qe7 as in  perrypawnpusher - HGBoone, blitz, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 27), perrypawnpusher - BigKalamar, blitz, FICS, 2011 (1-0, 49), and perrypawnpusher - OudeKwakkelaar, blitz, FICS, 2014 (1-0, 16); 

8...Nc6 as in perrypawnpusher - mjmonday, blitz FICS 2010 (0-1, 26), perrypawnpusher - DeDaapse, blitz FICS 1010 (0-1, 19), perrypawnpusher - Avious, blitz, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 40), perrypawnpusher - Duir, blitz, FICS, 2011 (1-0, 42), perrypawnpusher - anandh, blitz, FICS 2011 (0-1, 11) and perrypawnpusher - bartab, blitz, FICS, 2012 

9.O-O 

I have played, instead

9.f4 as in perrypawnpusher - hklett, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 18), perrypawnpusher - abczyx, blitz, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 39), perrypawnpusher - HGBoone, blitz, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 46), perrypawnpusher - KaZC, blitz, FICS, 2010 (1/2-1/2, 61), perrypawnpusher - eduborio, blitz, FICS, 2011 (1-0, 19), perrypawnpusher - obmanovichhh, blitz, FICS, 2011 (1-0, 34), perrypawnpusher - Fazmeister, blitz, FICS, 2011 (1-0, 36), perrypawnpusher - spince, blitz, FICS, 2014 (0-1, 41), and perrypawnpusher - guestM, FICS, 2023 (1/2-1/2, 38); and 

9.Bg5 as in perrypawnpusher - Philidork, blitz, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 17), perrypawnpusher - wuolong, Chess.com, 2013 (1-0, 16), perrypawnpusher - BeeFiftyTwo, blitz, FICS, 2013 (0-1, 59), perrypawnpusher - andrewLLL, lichess.org, 2020 (1-0, 39), perrypawnpusher - JoseSoza, Chess.com, 2012 (0-1, 34), perrypawnpusher - ManWithABigPlan, Chess.com 2021 (1-0, 36). 

Whew!

10.f4 Nc6 11.Qd3 

11...Nb4 

It is always tempting to threaten the Queen, but it does not always accomplish anything - anything positive.

12.Qc4+ Be6 

Black could accomplish two things - blocking the check and hitting the center - with 12...d5. Still, White would be better. 

13.Qxb4 b6

Not wanting to lose the b-pawn, but, as they say in those infomercials - But, wait, there's more!

14.e5 dxe5 15.fxe5 Qe7 

Exchanging Queens might stop the attack, but it is the entrance to a piece-down endgame.

16.Qxe7+ Kxe7 17.exf6+ Rxf6 

Better was capturing with the pawn, but it doesn't matter.

18.Bg5 Black resigned

BSJG: Fast and Furious

 

angelcaming continues to win with the Jerome Gambit and its relatives - in this case the Blackburne Shilling Jerome gambit.

angelcamina - Grego2

1 0 bullet, lichess.org, 2026

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nd4 

The Blackburne Shilling Gambit.

4.Bxf7+

The Blackburne Shilling Jerome Gambit.

In 8,391 games in The Database, White scores 57%.

angelcamina scores better than that.

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Ke8 6.Qh5+ Ke7 

Not wanting to weaken his Kingside with 6...g6, Black weakens his King, instead, with lethal consequences.

7.Qf7+ Kd6 8.Nc4+ Kc6 9.Qd5 checkmate

Q.E.D.

It might help that, according to The Database, angelcamina had played the same game, previously:

angelcamina - wladko, 1 0 bullet, lichess.org, 2018

angelcamina - umutkaraca09, 1 0 bullet, lichess.org, 2019

angelcamina - Belovedone, 1 0 bullet, lichess.org, 2019

angelcamina - Charly99Gabriel, 1 0 bullet, lichess.org, 2020

angelcamina - jazine, 1 0 bullet, lichess.org, 2020

angelcamina - deep140, 1 0 bullet, lichess.org, 2021

angelcamina - luistrivelatto, 1 0 bullet, lichess.org, 2021

Jerome Gambit: Stockfish vs Mittens (Part 4)

                                              

[continued from the previous post]

Stockfish  - Mittens bot

Chess.com, 2026

In the battle of the chess engines, the fish has an advantage over the cat.

49...Re8 50.Rxe8+ Bxe8 

Exchanging Rooks decreases White's chances of direct attack on the enemy King, but Stockfish has seen further

51.Rc8 Kf8 52.f6 

Aye, there's the rub.

52...gxf6 53.g7+ Kxg7 54.Rxe8 

Black has a Knight and a pawn (passed) for a Rook, but in this case it is not enough.

54...Kf7 55.Rh8 Kg6 56.Rd8 f5 57.Kb3 Ne4 58.Kxb4 f4 59.c4 Kf5 

The game has reached a fascinating position. 

Black can sacrifice his Knight for White's c-pawn, as in the game, and hope to advance his f-pawn, according to the saying Black pawns move faster in the endgame.

Or he can run that pawn immediately, with 59...f3  but White's King and Rook prove to be better partners than Black's King and Knight, i.e. 60.c5 f2 61.Rd1 Kf7 62.c6 Ke7 63.c7 Nd6 64.Kc5 Nb7+ 65.Kb6 Nd6 66.Kc6 Nc8 67.Rf1 Na7+ 68.Kb7 Nb5 69.Rxf2 Nxc7 70.Kxc7 White will win Black's remaining pawn, and promote his own - or, in some cases, sacrifice his last pawn to trap Black's King on the h-file, eventually producing a side file (as opposed to back rank) mate. 

It is worth playing out. 

60.c5 Nxc5 Black resigned

White has a checkmate in 18 moves, and even Stockfish 16.1 (64 ply) can see it. 

Apparently, so can the Mittens bot.

My thanks to Chessinator for sharing this game.

Jerome Gambit: Stockfish vs Mittens (Part 3)

 

[continued from the previous post]

Stockfish  - Mittens bot

Chess.com, 2026

30...Ne2 

If your opponent attacks a piece, you may not have to move it. Instead, attack one of his pieces of equal or greater value.

The Mittens bot follows this sage advice, but it would have done better to just give up the exchange with 30...Rac8 31.Nxe8 Rxe8, still with an edge. 

31.Rf3 Nd4 32.Re3 b4 

Pursuing the pawn storm, judging that moving either Rook would be a waste of time, as the remaining Rook could still be captured. 

33.e5 

White has time for this.

33...dxe5 34.Nxa8 Rxa8 35.Rxe5 Rc8 

Black has two pieces for a Rook and a pawn. The game is roughly even.

36.Rf1 a5 37.b3 Nb5 38.g5 a4 39.g6 Be8 40.Rfe1 Nc3+ 41.Kc1 Bb5 42.bxa4 Bxa4 43.Kb2 Bc6 

The storms have largely passed.

It is difficult to see that this game began as a Jerome Gambit, although Black's King remains more threatened than White's.

44.a3 Rf8 45.axb4 cxb4 

White will redeploy its Rooks, to no great advantage.

46.Ra1 Ba4 47.Rc5 h5 48.Re1

48...Rb8 

It is not readily apparent that this is a mistake, but  Stockfish 17.1, sitting safely on the sidelines, offers a wild way to keep things balanced, with some interesting interplay between Rook and Bishop: 48...Rd8 49.Rc4 Rb8 50.Re7 Nd5 51.Rb7 Rd8 52.Rd4 Bc6 53.Rb6 Ba8 54.Rb5 Bc6 55.Rc5 Bb7 56.Kc1 Ba8 57.Kd2 Bb7 58.Rc7 Ba8 59.Ra7 Bc6 60.Ra6 Bb7 61.Rb6 Ba8 62.Kc1 Rc8 63.Rd6 Kf8 64.Rd7

If you say so.

49.Re7 

White threatens to double Rooks on the 7th rank. Its pawn on g6 also introduces some back rank mate themes.

Black can distract with Knight checks, but it is not enough.

[to be continued]

Jerome Gambit: Stockfish vs Mittens (Part 2)

[continued from the previous post]

I would like to examine the recent Stockfish - Mittens bot Jerome Gambit game, played well above my own skill level; but, in my defense, I quote a relevant John Heywood from 1546:

A cat maie looke on a kyng.

So we shall be looking at a cat's King, as it were.

In effect, Stockfish, the higher rated chess engine, is giving Mittens "Jerome Gambit odds".

Stockfish  - Mittens bot

Chess.com, 2026

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

I would be surprised (and delighted) if the Jerome Gambit were actually in Stockfish's opening moves "book".

It is more likely the position was set up, as part of the match.

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.d4

At first, Alonzo Wheeler Jerome preferred 6.d4 in his games, but he later switched to 6.Qh5+.

Stockfish 16.1 (30) ply prefers 6.Qh5+ by about 1/4 pawn.

6...Bxd4 7.Qxd4 d6 8.Nc3 Nf6 9.Bg5 h6 10.Bh4 Re8 

11.O-O-O Ng6 12. Bg3 Qe7 13.f4 Kg8 

White has castled Queenside. Black has castled-by-hand.

The computer evaluates Black as about 2 1/2 pawns better.

The Database does not have much advice, here, as there is only one game that reaches this position - a 39-move draw.

14.f5 Ne5 15.Bh4 Qf7 16.Bxf6 Qxf6 17.Rhf1 Bd7 

18.Nd5 Qg5+ 19.Kb1 c5 20.Qc3 Bb5 21.Rf4 Be2 22.Re1 Bc4 

Initiating skirmishes.

23.h4 Qd8 24.Ne3 b5 25.Rh1 Qf6 26.Qd2 Bf7 27.g4 Nc6 

28.Nd5 Qd4 29.Qxd4 Nxd4 30.Nc7 

White's Knight fork is a clear threat to gain material. Still, Black is better.

Now come pawn storms on both sides.

[to be continued]

Jerome Gambit: Stockfish vs Mittens (Part 1)

My Google.com Alert, set to find all things Jerome Gambit, just found the YouTube video (on Chessinator's website )

"Stockfish Sacrifices Everything! | Jerome Gambit vs Mittens #chess #gothamchess #chesscom #chessgame"

with the following description

In this game, Stockfish (White) plays the aggressive Jerome Gambit against Mittens (Black). The Jerome Gambit is a wild opening where White sacrifices multiple pieces early to launch a dangerous attack on the king. But can such a risky gambit work against a strong engine like Mittens? Watch the full game to see how the attack unfolds!

The game score does not give the version of Stockfish in the game (most recently released is Stockfish 18), nor does it give the rating of either player, or the time control they performed under. 

Checking the Stockfish website, it appears that the current rating of the program is around 3550.

Likewise, searching for information about the Mittens bot suggests that it is rated around 3000.

Oh - Mittens and I have crossed swords before. See "Jerome Gambit: Cat-Astrophe" for our 22-move game.

[to be continued]

Jerome Gambit: Fingerprints

The following blitz game has Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) fingerprints all over it.

Alfil-de-Oro - chipichipichapachapa

5 0 blitz, lichess.org, 2026

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

Temporarily transposing into a "modern" variation of the Jerome Gambit - one without the "classical" Nxe5+.

5...Kxf7 6.Nxe5+ Nxe5 7.d4 

Transposing to more "classical" lines.

7...Bd6 

Alfil-de-Oro has also faced the stronger 7...d5, i.e. 8.dxe5 Nxe4 9.Be3 Qe7 10.Nc3 Nxc3 11.bxc3 c6 12.Bd4 Be6 13.f4 Rhf8 14.f5 Bc8 15.f6 Qe6 Black resigned, Alfil-de-Oro - itsfungus, 5 0 blitz, lichess.org, 2024. 

Much more often he has faced 7...Bxd4 - in 170 games, scoring 53%.

8.dxe5 Bxe5 9.f4 Bd6 10.e5 Bc5+ 11.Kh1 Ne8 

Black's Knight has been driven from the field, but that is not all.

12.Qd5+ Kf8 13.Qxc5+ Qe7 

Against 13...d6 he has scored 2 - 1, with a timeout loss (the clock ran down when he had a checkmate in 7) Alfil-de-Oro - lguoterry, 5 0  blitz, lichess.org, 2024 (0-1, 30); and a couple of wins in Alfil-de-Oro - MEFTUN0666, 5 0 blitz, lichess.org, 2024 (1-0, 32) and Alfil-de-Oro - Thisisaddictive, 5 0 blitz, lichess.org, 2025 (1-0, 18). 

14.Qc3 d6 15.Be3 dxe5 16.fxe5+ Kg8 

Avoiding having his Queen skewered to his King with 17.Bc5.

17.Bc5 

Black resigned

It turns out that even after his King moves, the Black Queen is skewered - to the f8 square, where White's Rook threatens to arrive to deliver checkmate.

So, Black must give up his Knight with 17...Nd6 18.exd6 cxd6 if he wants to keep in the game - a piece down.

He declines.