I continue to be troubled by the game perrypawnpusher - NN, "The Italian Game" tournament, Chess.com, 2026 (1-0, 8), which began 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 g5.
The move 3...g5 strikes me as one of the strangest ways to avoid (consciously or unconsciously) the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+).
From the earlier post, "Jerome Gambit: A New/Old Defense", my most recent examination
See "Jerome Gambit: Out-Stranged?" and "Jerome Gambit: Out-Stranged Post Script".
The earliest example of this defense [1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 g5] that I have seen is in Smeltzer,P - Elliott,J, Detroit, 1990 (0-1, 24).
I was shocked to find that there are 63,000 games with this line of play (Black scoring 45.5% overall) at lichess.org. The top player using the defense was rated at 3113.
A quick check today shows that there are now 65,000 games with this line of play in the lichess.org database - Black still scoring 45.5% - with no change in the rating of the top player using the defense.
Mind you, as compared to 50% for Black, against the Jerome Gambit. With those numbers, why avoid the Jerome?
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