The Writer Could Well Have Been Thinking of the Jerome Gambit

 

The following excerpt is from the June 11, 2017 Los Angeles Times. The writer could well have been thinking of the Jerome Gambit...

Over the centuries, many practice drills and exercises have been devised to help players increase their skills.

No matter how talented at chess we may be, there will be games where our foes will have simply outplayed us. That’s when we will need to put up the tough defense, find hidden resources, or just struggle on in hopes of a miraculous salvation. Why not prepare for these inevitable times by drilling with a handicap? On the Internet Chess Club, I have seen games in which a player just gives away a piece to intentionally practice being materially down. A audaciously amusing example is: 1.Nf3 c5 2. Ne5 d6 3.Nxf7?!. For his donated piece, White partly exposes Black’s King and becomes unable to castle.

Another common one is: 1.e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nxe5?! This opening even sports some names: the Razzle Dazzle Gambit, Irish Gambit and Chicago Gambit. By sacrificing a knight for a pawn, White does get a full pawn center and a tempo or two. He is forced, though, to attack at all costs before Black’s extra man makes a fatal difference. An amusing story is told that the gambit was created by a player who confessed before dying that he simply did not see that the e5 pawn was defended.

A scarier version of this idea is appropriately called the Halloween Gambit. Starting off as a tame 4Knight’s Opening, White sacrifices his knight right away. Take a look at this short spectacular example, finishing with a queen give-away and a minor piece mate: [Brause-N.N., 1997] 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Nxe5 Nxe5 5.d4 Ng6 6.e5 Ng8 7.Bc4 c6 8.Qf3 f6 9.0–0 d5 10.exd6 Bxd6 11.Ne4 N8e7 12.Qxf6 gxf6 13.Nxf6+ Kf8 14.Bh6 mate.