Jerome Gambit: Refutation

I just finished going through "Refute Jerome's Gambit (Lifetime Repertoire) One shot Kill!" at lichess.org, and I recommend it to Readers of this blog.

You might say "But, Rick, it's a refutation, you should bury it or at least ignore it, not point it out".

No need.

The Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) has been "refuted" almost from the day it was introduced by Alonzo Wheeler Jerome in the pages of the Dubuque Chess Journal, April 1874.

Oh, well.

Besides, it is good to know what your opponent has prepared for you.

I have addressed this issue many times on this blog of some 3,760 posts. You can start with the early "But - Is this stuff playable??" (Parts 1 & 2).

I like the earlier discussion, in "It's hard to explain...", 
"More to the Point...", "And yet..." and "Still".

Check out "What Makes A Gambit Playable?"

I summed things up more recently in "Jerome Gambit: This 'Refuted' Thing (Part 1, A Basic Truth)" and "Jerome Gambit: This "Refuted" Thing (Part 2, What to Do?)"

While it is primarily an opening for club players - at blitz or bullet speed - you can try it out at your favorite time control and see how it goes. (I have scored around 80% in games ranging from 1 day per move to 3 days per move. YMMV.)

So - play the Jerome Gambit, have fun, don't worry about it's reputation.

Then, send me your games, so I can add them to the 77,000 Jerome and Jerome-ish ones in The Database.