Jerome Gambit: In Weakness There Is Strength

One of the strengths of the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) and its relatives is their weakness - opponents routinely underestimate White's chances, play routine moves, and get into trouble.

The following game is a good example.

TheOldgit - wopa

2 12 blitz, FICS, 2022

1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Nc6 3.Nf3 Na5 

It looks like Black would like to win "the minor exchange" - 4.Bb3 Nxb3 5.axb3.

White can accomodate him now, and bag a pawn, with 4.Nxe5 Nxc4 5.Nxc4.

Instead, White prefers to follow the path of Jerome.

4.Bxf7+ 

This sacrifice is legitimate.

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Ke6 

White also is a bit better after 5...Ke7 6.d4 d6 7.Nd3 Qe8 8.O-O Kd8.

6.d4 Bd6 

My daughter-in-law has a t-shirt that reads "Go ahead, underestimate me. That will be fun".

The words might as well refer to the Jerome Gambit.

Not to be too harsh on wopa. The Database shows a couple dozen games with the optimistic 6...Bd6. Of course, it scores 0 - 24. 

Better was 6...Nf6. 

7.Qg4+ Kf6 8.Bg5 checkmate

Ouch.

Jerome Gambit: Suspicion Helps

pablosko - pradipdb

3 0 blitz, lichess.org, 2021

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.d4 Qf6 

Interesting move. What is Black up to?

7.O-O Bxd4 8.Bg5 

A fun move, but playing into his opponent's hands.

Blitz. Things happen.

8...Qxg5 9.Qxd4 Nf3+ White resigned

That's got to hurt.

Jerome Gambit: Chess for Students

Pleased to be mentioned, along with the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+), on Jon Bain's Chess for Students page on Facebook.

Not quite sure whose picture accompanies the text, however. Jim Edmond of the Footscray Not Western Bulldogs?

JG: The New in Its Opening Theory, in Its Psychology (Part 13)

 JG: The New in Its Opening Theory, in Its Psychology (Part 13)   

  

(by Yury V. Bukayev) 

 

 

As a further development of my Part 11 (the post of August 16, 2022 on Rick Kennedy’s blog), this continuation of my theoretical research on the standard line of the Jerome gambit (JG) is about position after 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ke6 7.Qh3+! Ke7 8.Qc3 Bd6!? 9.f4!? Ke8!? 10.d4!? Nc6 11.0-0!  

 

After 11…Bf8 White has the following two possibilities: 

 

I)12.d5! AN  

 

A)12…Nce7 

A1)13.Qd3 d6 (13…Nf6 14.c4! with the idea 15.e5 and with the attack) 14.c4! with the idea 15.e5 and with the attack 

A2)13.Qf3! with the same idea, with the attack 

 

B)12…Qe7 13.Kh1! (13.dxc6 Qc5+ 14.Kh1 Qxc3 15.cxd7+ Bxd7 16.Nxc3, and White loses his attack, the position is good for Black) 13…Qc5 (13…Qb4 14.Qd3! with the attack) 14.Qd2! with the attack 

 

 

II)12.e5! Qe7!? 13.Rd1!? AN, and White’s attack continues.  

 

 

These theoretical difficulties for Black can be mortal for him in your game, even without very large difficulties of other kinds, which are present always at games. So I recommend you to play this line, if you are a lover of the Jerome gambit with 5.Nxe5+. You can get it also by my other sequences of moves: 9.d4 Nc6 10.0-0 Ke8 11.f4 Bf8; 9.0-0 Ke8 etc.; 9.f4 Ke8 10.0-0! Nc6 11.d4 Bf8.   

 

 Of course, ‘the Fantastic Star Jerome Gambit Deferred’ and ‘the Triumphant Jerome Gambit Deferred’ (these are my most strong deferred lines of JG, real parts of JG, they were invented and published in 2022 in my analytical research ‘Lose Never with a Strong Deferred Jerome Gambit! (Part 2)’) will be much more attractive for a lot of experts of the modern chess opening theory than the standard line of JG.