Monday, April 27, 2026

Jerome Gambit: Radically Declined

 


One of the most radical way to "decline" the Jerome Gambit (other than, say, 1...c5) might better be described as avoiding it: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nb4?

I have looked at this line previously, in "Out-Weird the Jerome Gambit" and "Rattling Around in My Brain (Not the Jerome)" but I occasionally check back, out of morbid curiosity.

The Database has 42 games with the line, with White, as expected, scoring 83%. The earliest example is an internet game from 2002, but I suspect that there are earlier examples out there.

Writ large, the lichess.org database has 45,000 (!) games with the line, with White scoring "only" 74%.

Why, oh why, would someone play 3...Nb4?

For that matter, why would someone play 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ ?

I suspect that a lot of the answers to both questions might be quite similar.

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