Jerome Gambit: I Don't Know

Although I am (allegedly) a smart person, I have no problem saying "I don't know" when something is beyond my knowledge.

About the following Jerome Gambit game, I have to say: I don't know.

perrypawnpusher - HopInThePonyTakeThe Candy

Chess.com, 2026

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.d4 

I played 6.Qh5+ in my previous game against the same opponent.

6...Qf6 

This is the first time I have faced this move. 

There are 238 games in The Database with 6...Qf6. White scores 53%

7.dxc5 d6 8.O-O 

Let the defender grab the pawn, King safety is more important.

8...Nh6 

There was nothing wrong with 8...dxc5.

Now that my King is safe...

9.cxd6 cxd6 

10.Qd5+ 

Hoping to create some mischief on the light diagonals.

10...Ke7

I do not think that I was impressing my opponent. If he were taking me seriously, then I would see 10...Qe6 here. 

11.Nc3 Nhg4 

Starting an attack on my King.

12.h3

This move does not get the bull off of the ice, as my Fritz chess program once griped. (Was that my Talking Fritz? That thing really criticized my play.)

More to the point is 12.f4 and then, after 12...Nc6, 13.h3.

12...h6 

The world is a busy place, and often it intrudes. Chess for amateurs is for spare time, and must give way to more serious tasks. Even phone calls can disrupt.

Especially when facing the "refuted" Jerome Gambit.

I do not know the motivation behind Black's move. Perhaps he intended 12...h5.

Instead, he had an escape with 12...Nf3+ 13.gxf3 Ne5 14.f4 Qg6+ 15.Kh1 Qh5 16.fxe5 Qxh3+ 17.Kg1 Qg4+ 18.Kh2 Qh4+ 19.Kg2 Qg4+ and there will be a draw by repetion. 

13.hxg4 

Why not?

13...Bxg4 

Allowing me to try a cheapo. 

14.Qxb7+ Bd7 

Already on to better things. 

15.Nd5+ Black resigned

An ending fitting for the Jerome Gambit.

Jerome Gambit: Is A Draw Good Enough for Black?

1/2 > 0 ?

I have asked "Is A Draw Good Enough?" for White in the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+).

The following game asks the same question about Black.

perrypawnpusher - HopInThePonyTakeTheCandy

Chess.com, 2026

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ke6

7.Qf5+ Kd6 8.f4 Qh4+ 

I have faced this Queen check (first seen in R.F. - Nibs, telephone chess, 1899 [1-0, 12]) in 38 games, scoring 82%.

There is also the related 8...Nf3+ which I have faced in perrypawnpusher - Sir Osis of the Liver, Jerome Gambit 3 thematic tournament, ChessWorld.net, 2008, (1-0, 19); perrypawnpusher - sjeijk, blitz, FICS, 2011, (1-0, 19); perrypawnpusher - igormsp, blitz, FICS, 2011, (1-0, 13); and perrypawnpusher - rheapennata, blitz, FICS, 2012 (1-0, 12). 

And also the feisty 8...g6 as in perrypawnpusher - Chess Titans, casual game, 2018, (1-0, 17) 

9.g3 Nf3+

Or 9...Qg4 10.fxe5+ ( Here, Black resigned in perrypawnpusher - vastatorjf, blitz, FICS, 2013), Kc6 11.Qxg4 d6 12.Qxg7 Be6 13.Qxh8 Bg4 14.exd6 Bxd6 15.O-O Bc5+ 16.d4 Bd6 17.e5 Be7 18.Qxh7 Be2 19.Qe4+ Kd7 20.Qxe2 as in perrypawnpusher - paolinoscottino, blitz, FICS, 2013 (1-0, 20) 

Or 9...c6 10.Qxe5#  as in Rick - Chess Titans, beginner level, 2021

10.Kf1 Qf6 

Black's Queen could also have gone 10...Qh6, as in perrypawnpusher - Temmo, Jerome Gambit 3 thematic, ChessWorld, 2008 (0-1, 43); 

Or Black could have attacked White's Queen, in turn, with 10...Ne7 as in perrypawnpusher - DaniyarManat, lichess.org, 2020 (1-0, 29) and perrypawnpusher - ce_1, Chess.com, 2024 (1-0, 64);

Or grabbed some material with 10...Nxh2+ as in perrypawnpusher - intssed, blitz, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 12); perrypawnpusher - JTIV, blitz, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 32); perrypawnpusher - jgknight, blitz, FICS, 2011 (1-0, 68); perrypawnpusher - mikelars, blitz, FICS, 2011 (1-0, 12); perrypawnpusher - IlToscano, Giuoco Piano Thematic tournament, Chess.com, 2016 (1-0, 18); perrypawnpusher - constipatedguru, blitz, FICS, 2017 (1-0, 20); perrypawnpusher - Chess Titans level 5, casual game, 2019 (1-0, 42 ); Kennedy - Chess Titans, casual game, 2022 (1-0, 48); and perrypawnpusher - xulian, Chess.com, 2024 (1-0, 36 ).

11.Qd5+ Ke7 12.Qxc5+ 

12...Qd6 

It is tempting to offer to exchange Queens, in order to ease the defense, but, in this case, better was 12...Kd8 as in perrypawnpusher - james042665, Chess.com, 2008 (0-1, 18); and perrypawnpusher - HarlemKnight, blitz, FICS, 2014 (0-1, 24) 

13.Qxd6+ Kxd6 

Black captures with his King, in order to not break up his pawns, but, in doing so, arrives at an even game.

Is an even game enough for Black?

14.c3 

Trapping the enemy Knight.

14...g5 15.Kf2 g4 16.h3 

16...b6 

Planning to pressure the center pawns.

The alternative is to take what is given - 16...Ke7 17.hxg4 d5 18.Kxf3 dxe4+ 19. Kf2 Bxg4 with an even game.

17.hxg4 Bb7 18.Kxf3 Nf6 19.d3 

The "Jerome pawns" often are part of an attack, but here they provide shelter for the King.

White's 3 pawn advantage is significant.

19...h5 

This is easily side-stepped. Perhaps 19...Rae8, instead?

20.g5 Ng4 

There's something about the g4 square...

21.Be3 Raf8 22.Nd2 

22...Ne5+ 23.Ke2 Ng4 24.Bd4 

Moving from defense to offense.

24...Rh7 25.g6 Black resigned

The defending Rook must move, but to where? 

Jerome Gambit: Grandmaster Simon Williams!

!

Not long ago, chessfriend Yury V. Bukayev mentioned to me that Grandmaster Simon Williams (GingerGM) had some Jerome Gambit content online.

I explored that, recently, as reported in the post "Jerome Gambit: Down A Rabbit Hole".

I was disappointed not to find a Jerome Gambit game by Grandmaster Williams in all of his online presence.

However, once again, Yury V. Bukayev came to the rescue, as he had found such a game.

Thank you.

Ginger_GM - MasatoNishiyama

3 0 blitz, 2021

As Yury learned, MasatoNishiyama is Simon Schweizer.

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nd4 

The Blackburne Shilling Gambit.

As mentioned in BSJG: Choices, Choices, Choices

According to Wikipedia:

The first known mention of this line was by Steinitz, who noted it in 1895 in the Addenda to his Modern Chess Instructor, Part II. The earliest game with the opening on chessgames.com is Dunlop - Hicks, New Zealand Championship 1911. [1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nd4 4.O-O Nxf3+ 5.Qxf3 Qf6 6.Qg3 Bc5 7.Nc3 c6 8.Kh1 b5 9.Bb3 d6 10.f4 h5 11.d3 Be6 12.f5 h4 13.Qg4 Bxb3 14.Bg5 h6 15.Qxh4 O-O-O 16.Bxf6 gxf6 17.axb3 Nxf5 18.Qxh8 Ng3+ 19.hxg3 Rxh8#].

4.Bxf7+ 

The Blackburne Shilling Jerome Gambit.

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Ke8 

Black has a piece for two pawns. Stockfish 16.1 (37 ply) evaluates the defender as being about 80% of a pawn better. 

The Grandmaster has to be happy, looking at his opponent's uncastled King.

6.c3 Nc6 

It is a bit surprising that the safer 6...Ne6 is assessed by the computer (37 ply) as only 1/2 of a pawn better.

It is useful to quote Yury V. Bukayev, here

The first glance (!) says that it is a Blackburne Shilling JG (not a standard JG) game, but let's look at Black's 6th move: it transposed the game into a standard Jerome Gambit game (1): 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+?! Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Ke8?! 6.c3?! Bf8?!. Although these moves are not strong, they let to say about this transposition.

7.Qh5+ g6 

Black knows what is coming, but he has to weaken his Kingside, as his King cannot run: 7...Ke7 8.Qf7+ Kd6 9.Nc4+ Kc5 10.Qd5 checkmate

8.Nxg6 Nf6

Black is not ready to give up his Rook - yet.

9.Qh4 hxg6

Bold.

He also had 9...Rg8 10.Nxf8 Qe7 11.Nxh7 Nxh7 12.Qx7+ Kxe7 13.Kf1 d5 when, even with a piece for 5 pawns, he would be at least even.

10.Qxh8 Qe7 

Defense and counter-attack.

It was not immediately apparent that 10...Ne5 followed by 11....Nd3 was the way to hold onto his small advantage.

11.d3 

White's Bishop eyes the f6 square as a target.

The grandmaster passes on 11.O-O Ne5 12.d4 Nf7 13.Qh4 Nxe4 14.Qg4 Qe6 15.Qd1 Kd8 which is the computer's choice.

11...Qg7 12.Qxg7 Bxg7 

Black has rid himself of that pesky enemy Queen. 

White has a Rook and 3 pawns for a Bishop and a Knight.

13.Na3 a6 14.O-O d6 15.Nc4 Be6 

16.Ne3 Kd7 17.f4 Re8 18.f5 gxf5 19.Nxf5 Bh8 20.Bg5

 

20...Ng4

A slip. 

Masters might follow Stockfish's suggestion - or not: 20...Nh7 21.Bf4 Ne7 22.Nxe7 Rxe7 23.a3 Re8 24.Rae1 Bf6 25.Re3 Bh4 26.Bg3 Bg5 27.Ref3 Rh8 28.b4 Be7 29.Be1 Ke8 30.c4 Nf8 when White's advantage - the two, connected passed pawns - still will take a lot of work to turn into a win.

21.h3 Bxf5 

Returning some material.

White continues to build his advantage.

22.Rxf5 Nge5 23.Rd1 Ne7 24.Bxe7 Kxe7 25.d4 Nc6 26.Rdf1

White can take his advantage and win. His watchwords are Festina lente - to make haste, slowly.

Jerome Gambit: Shadow Gambit

 

As Annie Proulx, and others, have observed “One of the tragedies of real life is that there is no background music.”

While it is not so much background as music, we have already answered the question "What does the Jerome Gambit sound like?"

But - does the opening have a poster?

Eye catching!

Actually, this is Shadow Gambit's graphic for a short Jerome Gambit video - one of almost a score of videos covering a variety of chess opening gambits.

His motto is uplifting

In live, as in chess, every move counts. Make your next one legendary.

Check the page, the art work, and the videos out.

 

Jerome Gambit: TheChessWorld

thechessworld

Recently, a small online pamphlet, from TheChessWorld, landed on my e-desk.

You might be familiar with TheChessWorld - its story is given in "Start Here" - as they offer a very large collection of instructional chess videos - a surprising number of which are free.

That's one four letter f-word we do not see frequently enough.

I worked my way through "The Zero-Blunder-Method", subtitled, tantalizingly, "Stop Hanging Pieces & Gain 150 ELO", which contained some basic self-prompts that will seriously cut down on making blunders in my chess games.

Why bother? Well, according to the booklet,

At 1200-1800 [rating], 8 out of 10 games are decided by simple blunders - not brilliant strategy.

Ouch. 

At least they didn't include playing the Jerome Gambit as a "simple blunder".

Anyhow, there is a stunning chart which looks at the "Estimated Loss Rates By Blunder Type" - identifying 4 rating classes, and taking a look at how often, for each of them, games end because of hanging pieces, knight forks, back rank checkmate, discovered attack and hanging pawns.

I haven't seen anything as helpful since Geoff Chandler's "Blunder Table".

Readers should check it all out.

Jerome Gambit: Down A Rabbit Hole

 

Chessfriend Yury V. Bukayev mentioned to me that Grandmaster Simon Williams (GingerGM) has some Jerome Gambit content online.

Given that the grandmaster has many videos and books to his name, looking him up online was a bit like falling down a rabbit hole...

My brief search turned up a relevant ChessBase Videos, as well as the Grandmaster's video, My Favorite Opening Traps.

It also led me back to earlier posts on this blog.

In "Jerome Gambit: Relaxing" I had noted

One of the YouTube.com  "The Master Tricks" videos, "jerome gambit । the jerome gambit । how to play the jerome gambit । The Master Tricks । chess traps" is a pleasant and not too long (11 moves) battle.

The game in the video, unattributed, can also be found in the notes to analysis in Grandmaster Simon Williams' “My Favorite Opening Traps”.

In "Jerome Gambit: Light Relaxing" I elaborated

By the way - speaking of videos - chessfriend Yury V. Bukayev pointed out a ChessBase offering "For free: Get your brand-new 60 minutes video course", featuring Grandmaster Simon Williams' video "My favorite Opening Traps".

The content is enticing:

1. Introduction
2. Traps
3. Stafford Gambit - 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 Nc6 4.Nxc6 dxc6
4. Jerome Gambit - 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5 Nxe5
5. Nakhmanson Gambit - 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.d4 exd4 5.0-0 Nxe4 6.Nc3
6. Englund Gambit - 1.d4 e5 2.dxe5 Bc5/Nc6
7. Panteldalkis Countergambit - 1.e4 e5 2.f4 f5
8. Fajarowicz Gambit - 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e5 3.dxe5 Ne4

Alas, the "free" offer expired on Christmas past, although ChessBase still sells the video in its offerings.

And, how often do you see a grandmaster using "My favorite" in relation to the Jerome Gambit?

More extensively, in the "Jerome Gambit: Mind Blowing Checkmate" post, I wrote

I was happy to recently run across the YouTube.com video "Jerome Gambit | Chess opening tips & tricks to WIN FAST!! #shorts" from Chessliker featuring a quick 10-move "mind-blowing checkmate".

The line - actually, a game - was earlier featured in the video "jerome gambit । the jerome gambit । how to play the jerome gambit । The Master Tricks । chess traps" by The Master Tricks as previously mentioned here in "Jerome Gambit: Relaxing".

It has also appeared in Grandmaster Simon Williams' “My Favorite Opening Traps”.

Going back further in time, as noted in "International Master Gary Lane", the game was identified as blackburne - karmmark, Jerome Gambit thematic tournament, ChessWorld.net, 2007. The game was presented in two of IM Lane's ChessCafe.com "Opening Lanes" articles titled "The Good Old Days" and "Chess Made Easy" - the ChessCafe site is no longer functional, but I have linked to the essays via the Wayback Machine.

The blog post "The extraordinary and forgotten Jerome Gambit" (the title is from a quote in John Elburg's online review of the book below) also notes that blackburne - Karmark 2007 appeared in International Master Gary Lane's book The Greatest Chess Tricks and Traps (2008).

Of course, the "blackburne" in question is not Joseph Henry Blackburne of the legendary Amateur - Blackburne, London, 1884, game, but Pete Banks, early Jerome Gambit enthusiast, some of whose games can be found in "The Pete Banks Annotated Collection" and who presented "Learn Chess with Pete".

When I find more Jerome Gambit content by Grandmaster Simon Williams, I will share it, as well. 

Jerome Gambit: Start of the Third Round

 

The third round of Chess.com's "Italian Game" tournament has started, and I already have two Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) games, with the possibility of one more.

Of course, it would also be interesting if any of my three opponents played the Jerome Gambit against me.

We shall see...