Jerome Gambit: First Steps (Part 4)

 

You can not play the Jerome Gambit very long before you meet 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 h6. 

Euwe refers to this line as the Semi-Italian Opening in his Chess Master vs Chess Amateur (1962). Others refer to it as the Anti-Fried Liver Defense in the Two Knights Defense, because it protects against 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Ng5 d5 5.exd5 Nxe5 6.Nxf7.

The move 3...h6 is certainly playble for Black, although 4.d4 should give White a pleasant position whatever the response.

Through a Jerome Gambit lens, however, 3...h6 should be seen as a slight loss of time and a small weakening of Black's Kingside position. It is probably best to choose a move that fits in with the Jerome setup - 4.0-0 or 4.Nc3 come to mind - and hope for a transposition that could come after 4...Bc5 5.Bxf7+.

Of course, Black can answer 4.0-0 or 4.Nc3 with 4...Nf6, instead, when White can try one more time with 5.Nc3 or 5.0-0, hoping for 5...Bc5 6.Bxf7+. If so, the weakening of the e8-h5 diagonal should help White's coming attack.

If 5...Be7 or 5...Bb4 or 5...d6 or 5...Nxe4 are then played - well, no Jerome Gambit will appear this game. It is important to remain philosophical about these things: after all, Black can always "decline" the Jerome Gambit with 1...e6 (and other moves) as well.