Tuesday, August 2, 2022

Jerome Gambit: Dunno



It can be enjoyable to watch grandmasters like GM Aman Hambleton and GM Hikaru Nakamura play the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) in blitz games for fun, but it is important to remember that the top players generally do not regard the opening as in any way sound.

A more representative view of grandmaster appreciation of the Jerome Gambit was presented in "A GM Weighs In on the Jerome Gambit", where Grandmaster Jonathan Speelman wrote 

What a splendidly purulent gambit 

although he hastened to continue

which nevertheless must be horrible to face in a five minute game and quite tough at slower time limits.

(In all fairness, it must also be remembered that GM Speelman analyzed two of my Jerome Gambit games in his "Agony Column #24" at chessbase.com, and we both had a good laugh at the results.) 

Most recently, Yury V. Bukayev sent me a link to a video clip from Grandmaster Gata Kamsky's twitch account. The 5-time U.S. champion, currently rated 2666, is pleasantly dismissive 

...[S]ometimes some line got the name of somebody. Who cares, guys? We all get it, right? Except when some people give me these obscure names. Like this Jerome Gambit. Who the hell is Jerome? I keep hearing this dude's name and I have no idea who the heck is that guy. All right, who the heck is Jerome? [shrugs]

I'm thinking of printing a t-shirt that says "Who the heck is Jerome?". It would compete with the "Jerome Gambit and Carry On" tee, but it would complement my Jerome Gambit sweatshirt (see "Happy Birthday to Me").





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