Thursday, November 24, 2022

"The Jerome Gambit isn't an opening. It's a philosophy."

 


Instructional.

Great fun. 

I just watched FM William Graif's YouTube video, "JEROME GAMBIT. Every Time. Can I Win The Lichess Arena?"

In 10 games, as White and as Black - he won 9 - he demonstrates his belief that "The Jerome Gambit isn't an opening. It's a philosophy."

To be able to play the Jerome "every time" FM Graif focuses the definition of the opening to include White's sacrifice of his Bishop on f7, or Black's sacrifice of his Bishop on f2, so there are games like 1.e4 c5 2.Bc4 Nc6 3.Bxf7+ and 1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Nf6 3.Bxf7+. With Black he plays 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Bc5 3.Bc4 Bxf2+.

As the games go on, opponents apparently take notice, as they try to avoid the Jerome Gambit, making the Bishop sacrifice difficult, occasionally provoking a Knight sacrifice at f7:

1.e4 c5 2.Bc4 e6 3.Nf3 a6;

1.b3 e5 2.Bb2 Bc5 3.Bxe5 Bxf2+;

1.e4 c6 2.Nc3 d5 3.d4 a6 4.Bd3

1.e4 e6 2.Nf3 c5 3.Ne5 Qc7 4.Nxf7; and 

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nc3 Ng4 3.e4 Nxf2

Clearly FM Graif was having a lot of fun. That's what the Jerome Gambit is all about.

Although there were plenty of sacrifices on f7/f2, my only, small, disappointment is that none of the games featured 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+...

That having been said, the video will still boost your attacking prowess in Jerome and Jerome-ish openings.

No comments: