So Much Fun...

Looking back at some of the highlights of the early posts to this blog was so much fun, I decided to do a little more digging and sharing... Here we go.

I have made at least a half-dozen trips to the White Collection of the Cleveland Public Library to look up Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) games and analyses. I have also used my local library, interlibrary loan and the online Google Books.

For example, a few years ago I came across Volume XI of The Westminster Papers of London, "A Monthly Journal of Chess, Whist, Games of Skill, and The Drama" which had this note in its February 1, 1879 issue:

We shall be most happy to receive some games fairly well played in which the Jerome Double Gambit was adopted. They will be handed to our annotator indue course and will analyse them in an unprejudiced and impartial manner.

Unfortunately, the The March and April issues which complete Volume XI have no further reference to Jerome's Gambit; and, alas, they were the last issues of The Westminster Papers to be published 

Sometimes the searching turns up fun stuff. What about a "reversed Jerome Gambit?" Sounds crazy, but the posts on 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Bc5, known by some as the "Busch - Gass Gambit", or, with the addition of 3.Nxe5 Nc6, as "Chiodini's Gambit" might be "Worth A Second Look"

Jumping on the trend, I invented the fictional "Jerome Gambit For Dummies" and provided educational material that I've added to from time to time (you can use the "search" feature on the blog). It's as lighthearted as "Whodunnit?", but that's okay. It makes more sense than "The Jerome Gambit shows up in the oddest places..."

The "Optical Illusion" variation of the Jerome Gambit continued to crop up.Jyrki Heikkinen shared his version of the "Sicilian Jerome Gambit". There was some work on "The Kentucky Opening". Then, there is that "Pie-in-the-Face" Variation"...

I opined on "A Side Line to Watch". I started sharing some "Stats" on the Jerome.

Who knows if there is a "Conspiracy of Silence" surrounding a particular variation of the Jerome Gambit? What about that "Critical Line 5...Kf8"?  What do we know about "The Life of Alonzo Wheeler Jerome"? What's with "the Nudge"? Did Adolph Albin actually play the Jerome Gambit? Can you handle the "Jerome Gambit Quiz"?

These are just some of the highlights of the blog posts made in 2009 alone (with 365 a year, there are plenty to choose from). Many games were presented that year, and I continued to share my Jerome Gambit wins and losses (my score is 83% in games with that refuted opening)

Incorrect, Unsound and Unplayable

The other day I was looking through Niels Jorgen Jensen, Tom Purser and Rasmus Pape's Elephant Gambit monograph when I ran into something interesting in the "Introduction" that applies equally to the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+)

...it is evident that many openings – the Sicilian Defense, for example –  have been diffused almost beyond reasonableness. Consequently, if you play the Sicilian, as black or White, you must accept the probability that your opponent has studied the latest grandmaster variations to the beginning of the endgame.

On the other hand, if you play something off the beaten track – let's say the Elephant Gambit – you can be quite secure that your opponent has no prepared variation; quite the contrary, he will be forced to play chess on his own. This can give you a pronounced psychological advantage: your opponent is likely to be facing his first Elephant, and has studied no variations, and the only thing he might have is some vague recollection of having read that the opening is incorrect, unsound, and unplayable. He will be looking for easy refutations, and may become frustrated when he does not find them. The pressure will all be on him. After all, he will appear ridiculous if he cannot beat an "unplayable" opening.

The Westminster Papers

Using Google Books to search the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) I recently came across Volume XI of The Westminster Papers of London, "A Monthly Journal of Chess, Whist, Games of Skill, and The Drama" which had this note in its February 1, 1879 issue:

ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS

CHESS

H.W.P. (Vermont, U.S., A.) -- We shall be most happy to receive some games fairly well played, in which the Jerome Double Gambit was adopted. They will be handed to our annotator in due course, and will analyse them in an unprejudiced and impartial manner.

The March and April issues which complete Volume XI have no further reference to Jerome's Gambit – and this is unfortunate, as they were the last issues of The Westminster Papers to be published.

The refererence to the chess player "H.W.P" of Vermont is also a mystery to me at this point.

Readers able to shed a light on this are encouraged to either post a "comment" or contact me via email.

Graphic by Jeff Bucchino, wizardofdraws