There is an old phrase, "to damn with faint praise", which means to evaluate something, not as "fantastic" or "terrific" or "amazing", but, say, as "that's... uh... nice".
A while back I visited the online site of Australian Grandmaster David Smerdon, and commented on both his latest book, and my current fascination.
GM Smerdon was kind enough to respond.
Rick Kennedy says:
GM Smerdon,
I am working my way through your fascinating The Complete Chess Swindler, a topic that greatly appeals to me, from both a psychological perspective and as a matter of survival: I have been researching and playing the worst chess opening ever, the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+), for a couple of decades, and have come to realize that any success whatsoever has been due to swindles. (I immediately apologize to the ghost of Frank Marshall and other masters, living and dead.)
Many thanks for your hard work.
Hi Rick. I recently came across the Jerome Gambit on YouTube. It’s….quite something!