Jerome Gambit: Discouraged? Nah. Confused? Maybe.

I suppose I should be discouraged after my performance with the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) in the "Giuoco Fun" tournament at Chess.com. I scored 1 - 3 - 0, and the one win that I had was on time, my opponent not having made a single move.

There are four games left to be completed in Round 3, Group 5, and it is possible that I will wind up in 4th place in the group, ahead of only the player who lost all 8 of his games on time. There will be no Round 4 for me.

Still, I came out of the opening in 2 of those 3 lost games with the advantage. Tactical slip-ups did me in, not the Jerome Gambit.

I have already signed up for the "Italian Game" tournament, also at Chess.com, a 50-player event.

Again, I don't expect things to be easy. Of the 14 players currently signed up, I am the lowest rated, with 2 of my possible future opponents rated in the 1900s, and 3 rated above 2100.

It all makes me recall a blog post from 15 years ago, "Jerome Gambit for Dummies (5)," where I examined the "Jerome Gambit Tournament 2007-2008" and concluded

...in this Jerome Gambit Tournament, White needed to be rated only 200 points higher than his opponent to overcome the handicap of “giving Jerome Gambit odds” and have strong winning chances.

Oh, wait a minute - that quote says "200 points higher", doesn't it?

And didn't I average about 100 points higher in those recent 3 games that I lost?

Ah, well... I still love the Jerome Gambit.