Jerome Gambit: Video and Burning Bridges

 Wow.

I just bumped into a Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) video ("Chess Openings #15 - Jerome Gambit") by @Chess_Thugs, who has a number of chess video on YouTube.

It is relevant to this blog to consider the following assessment.

The Jerome Gambit is a gambit not of a pawn, but of the entire game. This opening was probably born because some trash 700 ELO player confused the fried liver with this and tried it anyway. Although it seems like white will get the piece back and enjoy a bad but existing attack, black can simply protect the piece with his king and refused [sic] to give it away. 

It is true, that the Jerome is not a gambit of a pawn, but, rather two pieces, one of which White sometimes can claw back.

I do very much like the opinion that the opening is actually a gambit "of the entire game". Playing the Jerome Gambit requires you to be all in, even if it means burning your bridges behind you, as there is no going back.

While I do not know exactly how strong Alonzo Wheeler Jerome (after whom the gambit is named) was (see "How Strong A Player Was Giovanni Tonetti?") it is clear from his games and analyses that he was rated higher than 700 (although the ELO system was not in existance back then).

It is hard to not share Chess Grand Monkey's online look at various ratings (check it out!), including "How good is a 700 chess rating?" and the following diagram

How good is a 700 chess rating?

An elo rating of 700 in chess means that you kind of know what you’re doing! You’re still considered a new player, but you do know all the chess rules. And you probably recognize some opnings already. But there’s a lot of room for improvement!

Chess rating (elo)	Level	How you play
< 800	Novice	You hang your queen 4 times per game
800 – 1099	Beginner	You play pretty well and then you blunder your queen You know only 2 openings.
1100 – 1399	Intermediate	You can play all the common openings, but you blunder forks when you get tired.
1400 – 1699	Advanced intermediate	You don’t blunder pieces away anymore. Ifyou lose it’s because you played inaccurately and you lost a pawn.
1700 – 1999	Advanced	People need to come at you with very challenging positions if they want you to make an inaccuracy.
2000 – 2299	Expert	You hold your own in almost any position. Your biggest enemies are stress and fatigue.

Table: what your chess elo rating really means (based on ratings on Chess.com)

Again, I enjoy @Chess_Thugs' comment that the Jerome Gambit leads to "a bad but existing attack", he is a bit inaccurate when asserting

...[B]lack can simply protect the piece with his king and refused [sic] to give it away. 

in light of the main line 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ke6 7.Qf5+ Kd6 8.f4, when Black's best move, according to Stockfish 16.1, is to have his King step away from defending the beleagured Knight, with 8...Kc6, giving it away. 

All-in-all, I appreciate the criticism, as it forces me to examine and re-examine my favorite opening.