Tuesday, March 2, 2021

Jerome Gambit: First Steps (Part 2)


 Before you are able to play the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) you may have to dodge a distraction or two that your opponent could toss your way. 

For example, you might start play with the Italian Game in mind, specifically the Jerome Gambit, only to discover that your opponent would like to gain the "minor exchange" (Bishop for Knight) instead: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Na5


Black is planning on 4.Bb3 Nxb3, when he would have traded his Knight for the Bishop. 

White does not have to cooperate.

This is one of those situations where White can choose between the "right" way and the Jerome way.

The simplest play is 4.Nxe5 Nxc4 5.Nxc4 when Black has achieved his goal - at the price of a pawn. There are players who are willing to give up material to get their opponents out of their opening preparation (sound familiar?) but the fact remains: the "boring" response to 3...Na5 produces for White a pawn-up position with little risk.

However, there is also the Jerome-style response to 3...Na5, that is 4.Bxf7+. After 4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ White has 2 pawns for his sacrificed piece, while Black's King is in danger.

White answers 5...Ke8 with 6.Qh5+ g6 7.Nxg6 hxg6 8.Qxh8; 5...Kf6 with 6.Qh5; and 5...Ke6 and 5...Ke7 with 6.d4.

Of course, it is always a good idea to look at the latest blog posts, check out the links in the recent games, and browse through past posts - or use the "Search This Blog" function to find specific items of interest.

The Database shows that White wins 72% of the time in games with 4.Bxf7+.

An example to take a look at is perrypawnpusher - Aborygen87, Chess.com, 2019 (1-0, 21).


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