Jerome Gambit: A Positive Influence

I had a nice exchange of emails with a Reader a while back, wrapped around a couple of interesting Jerome Gambit-ish games. It is nice to see the Jerome have a positive influence on players' games. I have added diagrams, and my responses are in Blue - Rick

As an ex England youth player who recently got back into chess, I was very happy to recently find and start trying the Jerome.

I played a game against a friend online, whilst not quite a traditional Jerome, I feel many of the tactical ideas are traditional and highlights the sharpness of such lines. We see similar positions arising if black does not play Nxe5 in the traditional line. Feel free of course to use it in any blog posts you wish if it is of interest to you.

Having been bested by jerome-esque ideas, my friend also took up the line and played a solid game himself 

ashwin2305 - Chipmonk8

1 0 bullet, Chess.com, 2020

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Bc5 

3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Nxe5 Bxf2+ 

5.Kxf2 Nxe4+ 6.Ke1 Qf6 7.Nxf7 Qf2 checkmate

ashwin2305 - GlobalWarmingOP

3 0 blitz, Chess.com, 2020

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 

4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.d4 Ng6 7.e5 Nd5 8.Qf3+ Ke6

9.c4 Nb4 10.d5+ Kxe5 11.O-O Bc5 12.Re1+ Kd6 13.Bf4+ Nxf4 14.Qxf4 checkmate

It seems fair to say that Jerome-style tactics left opponents kerfuzzled...

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Bc5 is known as the Busch-Gass Gambit, although it resembles a reversed Jerome Gambit, especially after 4...Bxf2+. I suppose that the bishop sacrifice in a 1-minute game was comparable to being awakened from a deep sleep by a fire alarm: What? Where? Why? Many opponents can "solve" the Jerome Gambit and its relatives, given enough time. In fast chess, there is often not enough time.

Nice checkmate in 9, by the way.

I think it was great that your friend was willing to give it a try in his own game. I have begun to call 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Bxf7+ a sort of "impatient Jerome Gambit", as White doesn't wait for ...Bc4 before sacrificing his bishop. [Black] was probably just settling into a comfortable and familiar Two Knights Defense when he was shaken by the sac. I had to smile when Black played 8...Ke6, avoiding the calamity 8...Kg8 9.Qd5#. Still, a checkmate in 14 is pretty nice, too.