Jerome Gambit: More of A Stumble Than A Nudge

Following up on the previous post, a discussion about another mental "tool"...

Although the Jerome Gambit is not particularly known as a "subtle" opening, it has a few lines that feature a light touch. For example, in the line 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ng6

White can now simply capture the Bishop with 7.Qxc5.

White can also first "nudge" the Black King back with 7.Qd5+, (followed by 8.Qxc5) hoping that the King's placement will later interfere with development of his Rook. Subtle - and as old as Jerome - Brownson, Iowa, 1875 (1-0, 28).

(For the record, The Database has 2,794 games with the direct capture of the Bishop and 2,492 games with the "nudge" first.)

There are some positions in the Jerome Gambit, however, where the "nudge" does not work. Take the following position

In Sahuaripa - Dilmurod777, 3 2 blitz, "35th Lichess Mega A Team Battle", lichess.org, 2022, White now played 7.Qf5+ and promptly resigned after 7...Qf6 as the Knight is protected and White will remain 2 pieces down. Sometimes in a blitz game we grab the wrong tool from the box.

Of course, since this was a game played online, there is also the possibility that 7.Qf5+ was a "mouse slip" and not a thinking error at all. An earlier example of such a slip was Wall,B - Guest2208830, PlayChess.com, 2013 (1-0, 31).

Overall, The Database has 16 games with 7.Qf5+, with White scoring a surprising 25%. Although, seeing as we are talking about the Jerome Gambit, perhaps that is not so surprising after all.