Jerome Gambit: First Steps (Part 7)

 

You might think that by now it would be time to discuss the Jerome Gambit proper, but there is one more distinction to make.

After 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7

Should White capture the e-pawn?

That was never a question for Alonzo Wheeler Jerome or his followers. Of course White should play 5.Nxe5. That is what the Jerome Gambit is all about.

The Database, however, has thousands of "not-5.Nxe5" games.

Some of this can be because White is not totally familar with the Jerome Gambit.

Some of this can be attributed to a sudden outbreak of caution - White is willing to risk 1 piece, but not 2.

Some of this can be credited to earlier computer chess engines that analyzed the position and urged White to stop being so generous. (Stockfish 13 has no such qualms.)

I could have differentiated the 5.Nxe5 / not-5.Nxe5 games as "full" or "decapitated", but I settled upon "classical" and "modern".

My preference and recommendation is the classical Jerome Gambit, 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+

By the way, please resist the siren song of 5.Ng5+?. It introduces the "trap" 5...Qxg5 6.d4, where White attacks both the Queen and the Bishop. The problem for White is that the reply 6...Qxg2 is simply crushing - at that point the computers asses Black as having over a 2 Rook advantage, and The Database shows White scoring less than 10%.