Jerome Gambit: More Explorations (Part 3)

 

 

[I would like to show a picture of Armand E. Blackmar, but the only one that I could find, on the findagrave.com website, actually appears (Google image search) to be a photo of Leonidas Polk.]

So far, my explorations have moved from a couple of games by Lyudmila Rudenko to an article by Karel Traxler to the mysterious "Blackmar-Jerome gambit".

Concerning Armand Edward Blackmar (1826 - 1888), I have not found a "Blackmar-Jerome gambit" among his works. 

Blackmar wrote an article for the July 1882 issue of Brentano's Chess Monthly, where he presented analysis and games concerning 1.d4 d5 2.e4 dxe4 3.f3.

 The American Supplement to Cook’s “Synopsis”, edited by J.W. Miller, (London, 1885), had analysis of two gambits attributed to Blackmar: 1.d4 d5 2.e4 dxe4 3.f3 and 1.d4 f5 2.e4 fxe4 3.f3. 

The only line which had any resemblance to the Jerome Gambit - a sacrifice of a Bishop on f7 - is not a good candidate for "Blackmar-Jerome": 1.d4 d5 2.e4 dxe4 3.f3 exf3 4.Nxf3 Bg4 5.c3 e5 6.Bc4 e4 7.Bxf7+ Ke7 8.Bxg8 h6 9.Qe2 Bxf3 10.gxf3 Rxg8 11.Qxe4+ Kf7 12.Qxb7 Nd7 13.Qd5+. 

Very intriguing, however, was the note in the Supplement

Mr. Blackmar has a manuscript book of over 300 games played at the Gambits, and his conclusion is that both lead to most interesting positions, giving White an immense variety of brilliant attacks to repay for the Pawn Sacrificed.

I do not know if that handwritten book of games was ever published. It is an odd coincidence that when Emil Josef Diemer (1908 - 1990), who extended the first Blackmar Gambit with 1.d4 d5 2.e4 dxe4 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.f3, wrote his book on the Blackmar-Diemer Gambit, Vom Ersten Zug an auf Matt! (Toward Mate From the First Move), it contained 300 games as well.

In an off chance to learn more about a possible "Blackmar - Jerome gambit", I contacted Tim Sawyer, who not only has a chess blog which contains many Blackmar-Diemer Gambit games, he lists among his many books a couple dozen on the BDG.

When I contacted him to ask about the "Blackmar-Jerome gambit" he referred me back to my own post "The Blackmar - Jerome Gambit?!".

Serves me right.