Jerome Gambit: Remarkbly Effective

An "objective" assessment of the Jerome Gambit is that Black should win.

A practical assessment of the Jerome Gambit played at the club level, however, is that it can be remarkably effective for White.

The successful path of the first player, it must be admitted, involves passing through initial dangers. 

In the following game, Bill Wall is accompanied in his journey by four passed pawns, and they chaperone him successfully. 

Wall, Bill - Twister

internet, 2024

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ng6 

7.Qxc5 d6 8.Qd5+ Ke8 9.O-O 

Black has the typical Jerome Gambit piece-for-two pawns advantage.

White's castling makes sense, before he is distracted by threats to his Queen.

Bill has also played 9.d3 c6 10.Qb3 as in Wall,B - Seven11, Chess.com, 2008 (1-0, 51); and 

9.d4 N8e7 10.Qb3 as in Wall,B - Am53, PlayChess.com 2013 (1-0, 14) and Wall,B - Guest7665109, PlayChess.com, 2019 (1-0, 22).

9...Nf4 10.Qb5+ 

Bill has raised this question in similar positions in other games - Block the check with the Bishop and lose the b-pawn? He now suggests 10.Qa5. 

10...c6 11.Qc4

A slip, unusual for Bill, as Black now has the murderous 11...Be6. Instead, the second player plays an even more dangerous move.

11...Qg5 12.g3 Bh3

This move is okay, but 12...Qh5 (or 12...Be6) was stronger.

13.Re1 Qg4 14.e5 

Opening the e-file against the enemy King bids to keep White in the game.

The Queens can now come off the board with 14...Qf3 15.Qe4 Qxe4 16.Rxe4 Ng6 17.exd6+ Kd7 and both Kings looks safe. 

14...d5 15.Qxf4 Qxf4 16.gxf4 

Stockfish 16.1 evaluates White as being about a pawn better, but that extra one is passed and protected.

Now White's Rook becomes active and infiltrates the enemy position.

16...Nh6 17.Re3 Bf5 18.d3 Ng4 19.Rg3 h5 20.f3 Nh6 21.Rxg7 Kf8 22.Rxb7 

22...Rg8+ 23.Kf2 Rg6 24.Nc3 d4 25.Ne4 Bxe4 26.dxe4 h4 

White's "Jerome pawns" are scary.

27.f5 Nxf5 28.exf5 Rg8 29.Bh6+ Black resigned

White has a checkmate in 7.

Jerome Gambit: Two Knights Quicksand

In the following game, the defender disappears, as if he had stepped in quicksand... even if he was rated 450+ points higher than the attacker.

You can check out the YouTube video, or just follow along with the moves below.

chessriddler - UnheardAutumn32

casual bullet game, lichess.org, 2023

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 

Black plays the Two Knights Defense. None of that silly Jerome Gambit stuff.

4.Bxf7+ 

Oooops.

An Impatient Jerome Gambit, played as early as Dr Draper - AW Child, Belfast - Dublin match2, 1891-2 (0-1, 20).

See "Jerome Gambit: Impatience" for more on the move.

4...Kxf7 5.Ng5+

chessriddler notes "Instead of taking the pawn on e file as we would expect."

When the time control is game in 30 seconds, this move can be hard to deal with: even if you "figure it out" it costs precious time on the clock. 

5...Kg6

More from chessriddler - "Riddle style mindset reads know that stronger players typically march forward rather than go back into a square where we all have at some point experienced the Fried Liver Checkmate with a bishop. Also with Habits (An Aman [Hambleton, grandmaster] series as I'm sure you're aware) people can step into a net with the same ideas they would have in the Greek gift."

Safer were either 5...Kg8 or 5...Ke8, but, still, if Black can keep his wits about him... 

6.h4 h6

chessriddler, again, "Now then, if we find our opponents in a position where h4 is met with h6 instead of h5 (virtually the only move) it in fact hangs mate in 4, instead of the lovely mate in 2 finish we see in the game." 

7.h5+ Kxg5 8.d4 checkmate

"Worthy of note, the sequence for mate in 4 can be pre-moved yet a lot of players I've asked to calculate there just can't seem to allow themselves to drop more material in a mating sequence in their heads, thus they give up on the move where they would have to find Qf7+ and state "they can't do it" - almost 100% of people I've asked to find mate in 4 in their heads are a) under 1400 and b) would go to g8 instead of march forward. The players that can see the mating sequence would also play Kg6 instead of Kg8 as 90% of them have faced the fried liver mate and know the Greek Gift as well!!" finishes chessriddler

Jerome Gambit: White's Ng5+

 

From earlier posts, some more, interesting, looks at White's Ng5+

"Opening Tale"

"Jerome Gambit: History lesson"

"Jerome Gambit: Anything is Playable in 1-minute Chess"

Again: Jerome Gambit Videos by The Board Game Xpert

 

More short videos on the Jerome Gambit, from The Board Game Xpert - (You can find earlier, equally well-done Jerome Gambit videos by The Board Game Xpert by doing a quick Search This Blog)

What Is The Jerome Gambit? - The Board Game Xpert  What Is The Jerome Gambit? In this engaging video, we'll introduce you to the Jerome Gambit, a bold and aggressive opening in chess that can ...

Jerome Gambit: Fast and Slow The Jerome Gambit At the club level, especially in games with quick time controls, accepting the sacrifices in the Jerome Gambit can be dangerous, quickly; ... What Is The History Of The Jerome Gambit? - The Board Game Xpert What Is The History Of The Jerome Gambit? In this engaging video, we will take a closer look at the Jerome Gambit, a chess opening that can turn a ... The Jerome Gambit The Jerome Gambit. 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ ...and related lines (risky/nonrisky lines, tactics & psychology for fast, exciting play) ... How to do Jerome Gambit #chess #Jerome Gambit How to do Jerome Gambit #chess #Jerome Gambit. Original Sound (Contains music from: Age age age · Dede Sabunge (ft. DJ Likin Breat))Original Sound ...

Jerome Gambit: Review of the Jerome-Knight Gambit

I have called the sacrificial line, 1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Nf6 3.Bxf7+, the Jerome-Knight Gambit, or the Impatient Jerome Gambit, linking it to Alonzo Wheeler Jerome's gambit, 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+. 

The major proponent of 1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Nf6 3.Bxf7+, at least according to The Database, not unexpectedly, is viejosquerosos (King of Bxf7+), playing at RedHotPawn, with 170 games.

Stockfish 16.1 (30 ply) rates 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ to be about 1/2 pawn better than 1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Nf6 3.Bxf7+

Here is earlier coverage on this blog, if you are interested:

Jerome-Knight Gambit

Jerome-Knight Gambit Games

One More thought

All's Well That Ends Well

Jerome Gambit: Jerome-Knight Gambit

A Video Joins the Fray

Delayed Jerome Gambit Video

Jerome Gambit; Jerome-Knight Gambit? Impatient Jerome Gambit?

Jerome Gambit: Mischief

Jerome Gambit: Borrowed Some More

Jerome Gambit: Target f7

BSJG: Knife's Edge

The following game shows the defender balancing on a knife's edge - and then falling off.

Uxx - Butterfli6282

30 0 lichess.org, 2024

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nd4 

Blackburne Shilling Gambit.

4.Bxf7+

Blackburne Shilling Jerome Gambit. 

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Ke8 6.Qh5+ g6 

Not 6...Kf7 7.Qf7+ Kd6 8.Nc4+ Kc5 9.Qd5+ Kb4 10.a3+ Ka4 11.Nc3 checkmate

7.Nxg6 Nxc2+ 

Not wanting to give up a Rook first, with 7...hxg6 8.Qxh8 Nxc2+ 9.Kd1 Nxa1 10.Qxg8 Qg5, but that was the way to advantage.

8.Kd1 Nxa1 

The game would devolve into a draw after 8...hxg6 9.Qxg6+ Ke7 10.Qg5+ Ke8 11.Qg6+ Ke7 12.Qg5+ draw, but, again, that was for choice. 

The text makes things worse.

9.Nxh8+ Ke7 10.Qe5 checkmate

Jerome Gambit: Safety-Seeking or Tempo-Taking

Playing 4.O-O after 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc4 - sometimes, a pause on the way to the Jerome Gambit - can lead to a "modern" variation of the opening (no 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+), as opposed to the "classical" variation (4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+) played by Alonzo Wheeler Jerome, himself.

Is 4.O-O a bit of King-safety-seeking, before a bold play on the other player's King? Or is it a bit of tempo-taking, awaiting a particular move by the defender before triggering the attack?

Consider the player CassomaD4, with 335 games in The Database. He has played 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc4 4.O-O 35 times. In 28 of those games, his opponent played 4...Nf6, the move rated by Stockfish 16.1 as the strongest response; which was met, in turn, by 5.Bxf7+.

If you check for this position in The Database, however, 123 of CassomaD4's games will show up, reflecting a transposition from the Two Knights Defense, 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.O-O Bc5 5.Bxf7+. 

In all, his score of 43% compared well with the overall statistics for the position: 2,022 games in The Database, with White scoring 42%.

Both fall short of the "classical" Jerome Gambit's statistics in The Database, 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc4 4.Bxf7+,