Friday, February 4, 2022

Jerome Gambit: A Not-So-Gentle Reminder

Yesterday's post featured Blackburne's defense to the Jerome Gambit, and even had a link to the famous / infamous game Amateur - Blackburne, London, 1884 (0-1, 14). If a chess player knows only one Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) game, it is probably that one. 

I recently watched the YouTube video "Hack the Jerome Gambit! #Shorts" presented the chess channel "GAMBITEERS!"

This Channel is dedicated to everything related to, chess, rare and offbeat gambit openings, transpositions. chess history, top 10 /facts, and "The Best of Philippine Chess!".

The short video focuses on the Blackburne game, and is a not-so-gentle-reminder that White needs to know how to stay out of trouble in the Jerome Gambit, and what lines to pursue toward victory. (In the context of that game, 9.d4 or 10.Qd8 were better alternatives.)

There is no analysis in the video, only the moves of the game, but it provides a decent balance to a not-so-recent YouTube video that I just ran across, "What chess gambit openings is worth learning?" by Gary Flores of Chessdelights.com.

I love that Mr. Flores identifies the Jerome Gambit that he learned early in his chess career, and that he labeled it as the "deadliest gambit" and his "favorite gambit" in his personal chess repertoire, reporting that he scored 3 wins in 3 games in his first 3 attempts with the Jerome, online at Chess.com.

Searching, I found 4 relevant games: one regular Jerome Gambit, two games with 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 h6 4.Bxf7+, and a Blackburne Shilling Jerome Gambit - all wins for White, of course. 

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