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.

Jerome Gambit: Comparing Comparisons

 

Just wondering...

Looking at the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5  2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) and comparing it to the Abrahams Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Bc5 3.Bxf7+), with the help of The Database, I note, currently, 53,272 games with the former, with White scoring 53%; and 20,477 games with the latter with White scoring 52%. 

About  year ago, in "Jerome Gambit: Comparable" I noted

That compares with 39,663 games in The Database with 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+, scoring 52%.

The Abrahams Jerome Gambit. It appears in 19,021 games in The Database, with White scoring 51%. 

Even allowing for the difficulties of statistics in general, those numbers are remarkably consistent.

Hmmmm.....

Shrug.

(I guess that and a sawbuck will get you a coffee at Starbucks.)

Not Quite Janus

 

Continuing my recent odd fascination with the opening line 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 d5 (see "Jerome Gambit: Janus" and "Looking Back At Janus") I encountered the early Chess Preceptor: A New Analysis of The Openings of Games (1843) by C. F. De Jaenisch with a similar line of play 

1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 d5 

 FOURTH OPENING . This is a bad opening for him , and we only introduce it as one of the Counter - gambits which your opponent may essay. You do better to take P with B than with P (3.exd5 Nf6 he may also play 3...Bc5 4.Nc3 Bc5 and then ...c6 with the chance of acquiring one of certain strong lines of attack) 

3.Bxd5 Nf6 4.Nc3 Bb4 5.Nge2 c6 6.Bb3 Bg4 7.0-0 Bxc3 8.bxc3 Bh4 9.d3 You keep pawn and have a good game. At move 4, instead of 4.Nc3 you may play 4.Qf3 but you are thereby exposed to more attack 

It was interesting to find that Stockfish 17.1 (40 ply) evaluates 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 d5 as about 4/10 of a pawn better for White than than it evaluates 1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 d5. 

"How to Refute the Jerome Gambit in 21 Moves"

 

I was glad to encounter the video "How to Refute* the Jerome Gambit in 21 Moves" by RequiemChess, whose YouTube page refers to "Chess as Art - Moves, Music, Brilliance".

The video presents the game Alonzo Wheeler Jerome - William Shinkman, Iowa, 1874, as reported in the Dubuque Chess Journal of July, 1874, almost the earliest published Jerome Gambit game  - preceeded by Tonetti - Ruggieri, Rome, 1863 (1-0, 23).

(Giovanni Tonetti is a subject in himself: see "Jerome Gambit: Giovanni Tonetti", "How Strong A Player Was Giovanni Tonetti?", "Who is the 1st inventor of JG in chess – A.Jerome or G.Tonetti?    The new approach (Part 1)" and "JG: The New in Its Opening Theory, in Its Psychology (Part 12)" - but I digress...)

Shinkman was an interesting and appropriate opponent for Jerome (see "William A. Shinkman [Parts I & II]") and the game, above, when published, ended with the note

and Mr. Shinkman announced loss of the Queen or mate in six moves.

Here is the game 

Jerome, Alonzo W - Shinkman, William A

Iowa, 1874

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ke6 7.Qf5+ Kd6 8.f4 Qf6 9.fxe5+ Qxe5 10.Qf3 Nf6 11.d3 Ke7

A thoughtful retreat. As I mentioned in "(Un)Seen Before (sort of)"

Over the years Jerome faced 11...Ke7 (Amateur, Brownson, Kinnieu, Pane and Shinkman) 

To which I can add, Jerome scored 3 - 1 in those games, with one outcome (Kinnieu) unknown. 

12.Nc3 g5 13.Rf1 c6 14.g3 d5 15.Bd2 Bg4 16.Qg2 Rhf8 17.h3 Nxe4 18.Bf4 gxf4 19.gxf4 Rxf4 20.Nxe4 Rxf1+ 21.Kxf1 0-1

With RequiemChess' video, I should probably, finally, give the end of the game - if it had continued.

The video adds the move 21...Rf8+, not in the original game, and Black now can win White's Queen and checkmate by either

22.Ke1 Bf2+ 23.Qxf2 Rxf2 24.Kxf2 Qf4+ 25.Kg1 Qe3+ 26.Nf2 Be2 27.Re1 Qg3+ 28.Kh1 Qxf2 29.Rxe2+ Qxe2 30.c3 Ke6 31.c4 Ke5 32.b3 Kf4 33.d4 Kf3 34.a3 Qg2 checkmate

or, a move later, with

22.Ke1 Qxb2 23.Qxg4 Qxa1+ 24.Ke2 dxe4 25.Qg5+ Kd6 26.Qg3+ Qe5 27.Qxe5+ Kxe5 28.dxe4 Kxe4 29.Kd2 Bd4 30.a4 Rf2+ 31.Kc1 Bc3 32.Kb1 Kd4 33.Ka2 Kc4 34.a5 Rf1 35.h4 Ra1 checkmate

Not quite six moves.

On the other hand, Black could try 21...Qf4+, when 22.Nf2 (22.Qf2 Bxf2 23.hxg4 dxe4 24.Ke2 Qe3+ 25.Kf1 Bg1 26.Kg2 Qf2+ 27.Kh3 Qh2# might have been more of what Mr. Shinkman was thinking) Bxh3 23.Re1+ Kf7 24.d4 Bxg2+ 25.Kxg2 Rg8+ 26.Kf1 Bxd4 27.Ke2 Qh2 28.Rf1 Rg1 29.Kd3 Rxf1 30.Kxd4 Qxf2+ 31.Kc3 Qe3+ 32.Kb4 Rf4+ 33.c4 Rxc4+ 34.Ka5 Qc5 checkmate finishes

Such complications! It all reminds me of the opinions in "Were they talking about the Jerome Gambit or...?"

*-Recall "But – Is this stuff  playable?? (Part I)" for a very early, skeptical, assessment, 18 years ago.

Jerome Gambit: Oh, My, Another Recovered Game

While putting together the earlier post "Jerome Gambit: Stumble" I realized that I had not presented the following game.

Since I have committed to presenting all of my Jerome Gambit games - win, lose, or draw - here we go.

perrypawnpusher - atastypawn

"Italian Game" Chess.com, 2024

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. (BTW, my favorite as Black)

8.Qf4+ 

For the record, there was first, the too risky, 8.Qxh8 Qxe4+ 9.Kd1 Qg4+ 10.f3 Qxg2 11.Qxh7+ Kf8 12.Re1 d5 13.Qh4 Qxf3+ 14.Re2 Bg4 15.Nc3 Bf2 White resigned, Jerome,A - Whistler,G, correspondence 1876.

Also 8.Qd5+ - explored by Yury V. Bukayev in "Anatoly Karpov & Jerome Gambit (Parts 7 & 8) and "JG: The New in Its Opening Theory, in Its Psychology (Part 16)" - 8...Ke8 9.d4 Bb6 10.Qe5 Qxe5 11.dxe5 Ne7 12.f4 d6 13.exd6 cxd6 14.Nc3 Ba5 15.Bd2 a6 16.O-O Bd7 17.Rad1 Nc6 18.Nd5 Bd8 19.Bc3 Rf8 20.g3 Be6 21.Rfe1 Ne7 22.Nf6+ Kf7 23.Nxh7 Black resigned, perrypawnpusher - moush54, Chess.com 2021.

8...Qf6 

Or 8...Kg7 as in perrypawnpusher - tmarkst, blitz, FICS, 2009 (1-0, 43) 

9.Qg3 

I have scored 4 -2 - 2, with White, from this position, despite being "objectively" worse. 

9...Ne7 

Or 9...d6 as in perrypawnpusher - alvarzr, blitz, FICS, 2014 (1-0, 49);

Or 9...d5 as in perrypawnpusher - MeisterBob, Chess.com, 2021 (1-0, 32);

Or 9...Qe6 as in perrypawnpusher - IndeedPerhapsYes, Chess.com 2021 (1-0, 32) 

10.Nc3 

Or 10.O-O as in perrypawnpusher - Yaku, blitz, FICS, 2011 (1/2 - 1/2, 26) 

10...d6 

Or 10...Rf8 as in perrypawnpusher-joro_videv, Chess.com 2022(0 - 1, 34) 

11.d3 Bb4 12.Bd2 Be6 

If there's a win here for me, it's still a long way off. 

Of course, a win for my opponent is a lot closer.

13.a3 Ba5 14.O-O Raf8 

Black envisions a do-it-yourself Queenside castling.

15.f4 Ke8 16.Rae1 Kd8 

I am improving my position, but Stockfish 17.1 still sees Black as about a pawn and a half better.

17.e5 

Possibly premature.

17...dxe5 18.fxe5 Bb6+ 19.Be3 Qg7 

20.d4 Rxf1+ 21.Rxf1 Rf8 22.Rd1 

Still hoping to somehow break in the center, but Black immediately blockades.

22...Nd5 

Stockfish really does not like this move, preferring to see the Knight at f5. Yet, it still gives the second player an edge.

23.Ne4 

Missing a chance to get the "Jerome pawns" rolling with 23.Nxd5 Bxd5 24.b3 Qd7 25.c4 Bg8 26.d5 when the center pawns would balance out Black's extra piece (and two Bishops), an even game.

23...Nxe3 24.Qxe3 Kc8 25.Nc5 Bxc5 26.dxc5 c6 

Allowing an outpost at d5, but nothing comes of it.

27.Rf1 Rxf1+ 28.Kxf1 Qf7+ 29.Kg1 Bc4 30.Qf2 Kd7 

Here, I gave the position a long look, and resigned. 

(You couldn't have guessed that my opponent is rated about 340 points above me, could you?)

Black's King can find safety at c7 or c8, while his Queen and Bishop partnership can begin snipping off my pawns.

My passed e-pawn is not protected and not long for the world, either.

Hélas.

Looking Back At Janus?!

 

I continue to be nagged by the unorthodox (non-Jerome) opening line 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 d5?, as mentioned in the post "Jerome Gambit: Janus".

(What a strange way to avoid the Jerome Gambit. 😏)

                                  

So far, I have uncovered about 200 games with that defense (there must be many more*), some - not surprisingly - by young players (U20, U18, U15, U12, U11, U10, U8); and some by players rated 2000+, playing 1-minute games. 

Again, not surprisingly, Whites scores about 80%.

However, the earliest example that I have been able to uncover (Thank you, Tim Harding, for your extensive UltraCorr database) is from a Canadian correspondence game in 1972. 

Maly, Gunther - Spencer, Leo W

corr CCCA, 1972

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 d5 4.exd5 Na5 5.Bb5+ c6 6.dxc6 bxc6 7.Ba4 Nf6 8.b4 Bxb4 9.Nxe5 Qd5 10.Qe2 O-O 11.O-O Re8 12.Bb2 Ng4 13.d4 Bd7 14.c4 Nxc4 15.Qxc4 Nxe5 16.Qxb4 Nf3+ 17.gxf3 Bh3 18.Qc5 Qxf3 19.Bxc6 Qg4+ 20.Kh1 Bxf1 21.Nd2 Bh3 22.Rg1 Qxg1+ 23.Kxg1 Re1+ 24.Nf1 Rxf1 checkmate

I have sent an inquiry to the Chess Federation of Canada** for more information on Mr. Spencer. (I am not able to contact Mr. Spencer, himself, as he passed away almost 4 decades ago.)

I suppose that I could also contact Bill Wall, who faced the defense 9 times and won all of the games, the longest lasting 18 moves.

In the meantime, I will set aside some time to peruse my stack of Randspringer magazines***... Probably my Unorthodox Chess Openings issues****, as well. Even Unorthodox Chess***** by Some Loser [sic] (Alas, I sold my copies of the Myers Openings Bulletin many years ago.)

As Yul Brynner noted in "The King and I", is a puzzlement.

*-The lichess.org database apparently has 884,000 such games

**-The response that I received indicated that they did not understand the question. Hélas. 

***-1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 d5 games not found

****-1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 d5 games not found

*****-1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 d5 games not found

Jerome Gambit: 5,100!

 

For what it's worth - and for me, it has been about 18 years worth - yesterday's blog post was #5,100.

That's a lot of Jerome Gambit - and related openings.

It all began with "Welcome!"

Many thanks to my chessfriends who have contributed much content and a lot of support.

Also, many thanks to Readers - especially those who have written to provide me with feedback.

The story of Alonzo Wheeler Jerome's opening continues to be written.