Modern Guide to Gambits

Wow!

Nikolai Kalinichenko, a correspondence grandmaster, has written The Club Player's Modern Guide To Gambits: Fighting Chess from the Get-go (Russell Enterprises, 2019).

I was excited, and, since his focus was on "club players", and he was looking at "fighting chess from the get-go" I could not wait to see what he had written on the Jerome Gambit.

Checking out the table of contents, I was pleased to see that his list of gambits included some of the offbeat gambits, such as the Cochrane Gambit, the Latvian Gambit, the Sicilian Wing Gambit, the Icelandic Gambit, the von Hennig-Schara Gambit, the Englund Gambit, and even the Blackmar Diemer Gambit.

Alas, no Jerome Gambit.

Even if it had been a chapter on "How to Defeat the Jerome Gambit", it would have been interesting and welcome. (I guess you will have to settle for the blog posts "An International Master Refutes the Jerome Gambit" and "A GM Faces the Jerome Gambit [Part 1 and 2]").

Oh, well, maybe next time.

Jerome Gambit-Inspired Play (Part 1)

Jerome Gambit Gemeinde member Philidor 1792 is back with a whole passle of attacking 3-minute chess games, with tactical themes inspired by the Jerome Gambit. Of course, at such a time limit, the first rule almost always has to be: Attack! Attack! Attack!

guest34 - Philidor 1792
3 0 blitz, www.bereg.ru, 2013

1.d4 e5

The Englund Gambit, sometimes referred to as the Charlick Gambit, the latter being an Australian player with a connection to the Jerome Gambit.

2.c4 exd4 3.Nf3 Nf6

The game has transposed into a Budapest Gambit.

4.Nxd4 Bb4+ 5.Bd2 Bc5 6.Nb3 Bxf2+ 

Just when the game was becoming a bit "normal", Black stirs it up again, Jerome Gambit-style.

7.Kxf2 Ne4+ 8.Kg1 Qf6 9.Be3 Qxb2

A bit of a bluff, which 10.Bd4 would call - but, remember this is a 3-minute game, and one of the best ways to stifle an attack is to swap Queens...

10.Qd4 Qxd4 11.Bxd4 0-0 12.Nc3 Re8 13.e3 

What a difference a move-order change makes: best was 13.Nxe4 Rxe4 and then 14.e3 

13...Nxc3 14.Bxc3 Rxe3 15.Bd4 Re6 16.Bd3 Nc6 17.Kf2 a5

In blitz, whenever you can, make a threat.

18.Bc3 d6 19.Nd4 Rf6+ 20.Kg3 Ne5 21.Rhd1 Nxd3 22.Rxd3 b6

23.Nc6 Rg6+ 24.Kf2 Kf8 25.g3 Bb7 26.Nd4 Re8 27.Nb5 Rg5

28.Nd4 Rc5 29.Re1 Rxe1 30.Bxe1 Rxc4 31.Nf5 Rc2+ 32.Rd2 Rc5 and here White's time expired. 

Black's four extra pawns are probably better than White's extra Knight. 

Coffeehouse Chess Videos

David Kane (Kuasm) has started a series of "Coffeehouse Chess" videos at YouTube, focusing upon openings that are dodgy and dubious, showing refutations and then basic ideas, for those who want to play the lines for fun or in casual chess.

So far he has covered the Englund Gambit (1.d4 e5) and the Blackburne Shilling Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc3 Nd4). They are certainly worth viewing.

He has said that he will look at the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+). I am especially looking forward to this one.

Don't say we didn't warn you...

From the "Why You Lose in the Opening" chapter of Tim Harding's Why You Lose at Chess (1982)

Playing an opening that is tactically unsound is rather another matter, for punishment is likely to be swift and painful if your opponent knows the refutation. Openings such as the Queen Pawn Counter Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d5), Englund Gambit (1.d4 e5), Jerome Gambit(1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) involve the early sacrifice of material that is unlikely, against a player of reasonable competence, to bring material or positional compensation...

To go deliberately into such openings or variations is not to be recommended as a general rule. If the opponent is weaker than you, then you should be able to win without taking such risks. If the opponent is stronger, he is likely to know the refutation or find it...

London Calling... Seven Months of Blog

Dear Jerome Gambit Gemeinde,

Another month has passed, this blog has reached 215 consecutive daily posts, and different outrageous lines of play continue to pop up here.

Beside obscure lines in the Giuoco Piano (see "Don't make me go Jerome all over you..."), the Blackburne Shilling Jerome Gambit (see "Blackburne Shilling Jerome Gambit", "Blackburne Shilling Jerome Gambit 2", "Blackburne Shilling Gambit: The Trapper Trapped? (Part I)" and "Blackburne Shilling Gambit: The Trapper Trapped? (Part II)") and the Abrahams Jerome Gambit (see "'Tis A Puzzlement...", "The Abrahams Jerome Gambit (Part I)" and "The Abrahams Jerome Gambit (Part II)") there's even been a couple of Evans Jerome Gambits (see "Evans Jerome Gambit" and "Hoist by my own petard...").

Throughout 2009 I will continue to add games, analysis and history on these lines.

I also got wondering the other day: is there another totally obscure and disreputable tactical opening line or gambit that I could go digging for information about, while I'm researching the Jerome Gambit?? Certainly 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d5 and 1.d4 e5 would meet criteria – except the Elephant and Englund Gambits have been lifted out of obscurity by modern analysis and games.

Readers and members of the Jerome Gambit Gemeinde are encouraged to make suggestions in the "comments".

Best wishes,

Rick Kennedy ("perrypawnpusher")

p.s. Visitors to this site have come from 73 different countries, and from 49 of the 50 states & Washington DC.