Jerome Gambit: A Closer Look At A "Modern" Line

 

What prompted a closer look at the "modern" Jerome Gambit line with 5.c3 was an email from chessfriend Dan Middlemiss

I am attaching another 57 Jerome Gambit games. I noticed that there is a bunch of games with 5.c3. Stockfish does not care for this move, but the Lichess database gives it a 48% success rate for white – exactly the same as for 5.Nxe5, although the knight capture is played much more often.

What does your Database say about this line, and have you given it much analysis in earlier columns? It seems to be a waiting move, primarily for 5....d6 by black, which Stockfish also thinks less of than other replies by black.

Any thoughts?

It was easy to respond 

I have been looking through my Database, and the blog, to get some ideas on 5.c3.  I have 1,963 games in The Database - a bit surprising that many - with White scoring 45% [not quite as good as the lichess.org data - Rick]. It was fun going back in time to see what I had written on the line. There are occasional games showing up, with and without notes, on the blog. I have to go back 9 years to find "A Look at the 'Modern' Jerome Gambit: 5.c3" and further to "Ask Houdini" to see even a light assessment of the line. Even so, the focus was mostly on differentiating "classical" Jerome Gambit lines (i.e. 5.Nxe5+) from "modern" Jerome Gambit lines (i.e. not-5.Nxe5+).

Interestingly enough, looking at Giuoco Piano offshoot, 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.c3 Nf6 5.Bxf7+ Kxf7, I have 1,466 games in The Database, with White scoring 44%. (I am sure that there is overlap.) Slightly odd in comparison with the 4.Bxf7+ / 5.c3 line, because I would have expected Black to do better when he had the option of 5...d5 (similar to the idea in the Ponziani).

Anyhow, 5.c3 is due for review, on its own, not just because it is "modern".  Thanks for the idea.

 So - off we go!

And, as you can see, I am willing to explore suggestions from Readers.