Jerome Gambit: Kingside Danger

Often when things go bad for Black's King, it wanders far afield and is checkmated on the Queenside.

However, wandering on the Kingside is also dangerous.

CassomaD4 - bulkah

3 0 blitz, lichess.org, 2023

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 

The Two Knights Defense

4.O-O 

Doing something constructive while waiting for 4...Bc5.

4...Bc5 5.Bxf7+ 

The Three Knights Jerome Gambit?

The Database has 2,025 games with this position. White scores 42%. 

Compare that with the regular Jerome Gambit line, 3...Bc5 4.Bxf7+. The Database has 44,792 games with that line. White scores 53%. 

5...Kxf7 6.Nxe5+ Ke6 

Black's King feels safe among his pieces, but Stockfish 16.1 already gives White a slight advantage.

More routine is 6...Nxe5 7.d4 Bxd4  8.Qxd4  

7.d4 Nxe5 

Complicating things further. Simpler is 7...Bxd4. 

8.dxc5 

A bit stronger was 8.dxe5.

8...Nxe4 

The e-file looks dangerous for Black - and it is.

9.Nc3 

Development. More straight-forward was 9.Qe2 d5 10.cxd6 Nxd6 11.f4.

9...c6 

The time control is blitz. Deep analysis is not easy. Still, creating a disrupted pawn structure with 9...Nxc3 10.bxc3 seems timely.

10.Nxe4 Rf8 11.Qd6+ Kf5 

There is danger in wandering away from home.

12.Ng3+ Kg4 13.h3+ Kh4 14.Qxe5 g5 15.Nf5+ Kh5 16.g4+ Kg6 17.Qg7 checkmate

Jerome Gambit: Fast and Slow

At the club level, especially in games with quick time controls, accepting the sacrifices in the Jerome Gambit can be dangerous, quickly; but that declining the sacrifices, starting with the first, and be dangerous, too, quickly.

dantunes - joejoechess

1 0 bullet, lichess.org, 2024

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kf8 

Black declines the Bishop and the complications that go with it - to enter quieter lines, where White has a small, but visible, advantage.  

5.Bb3 d5 

Sometimes the e-pawn should advance one square, sometimes two squares. In this case, one.

6.d3 

A 1-minute bullet game might not be the best place to explore 6.Nxe5 Qg5!? or 6.exd4 Nd4 7.Nxe5 Qg5!? No games with these lines can be found in The Database.

6...Bg4 

Development.

The computer has great fun with the line 6...exe4 7.Ng5 exd3 8.Nf7 Qh4 9.O-O Nd4 10.Nxh8 (better 10.Qxd3) e4 11.Nf7 Bg4, which it evaluates leads to an even position. 

7.Be3 

Prudent. There was also 7.exd5 Na5 8.Nc3 Nxb3 9.axb3 Nf7 10.O-O with advantage.

7...Bxf3 

Overlooking the fact that the recapture will come with check. White can now exchange and simplify.

8.Qxf3+ Qf6 9.Bxc5+ Nge7 10.Qxf6+ gxf6 11.Bxe7+ Nxe7 12.exd5

White is up a piece and two pawns. If his clock is not an issue, he can play on with expectation of a win.

12...a6 13.O-O Rg8 14.c4 Black resigned

The Drawn Game World Vice-Champion Ekaterina V. Kovalevskaya - Yury V. Bukayev

The Drawn Game World Vice-Champion Ekaterina V. Kovalevskaya - Yury V. Bukayev

                         

15-board simultaneous exhibition, Moscow, 2025,

August 03 ('The Chess Square 2025')

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 f5 

4.d3 fxe4 5.dxe4 Nf6 6.O-O Bc5 7.Bc4 d6 8.Nc3 Bg4 9.h3 Bh5 10.Be3 Bb6 11.Bxb6 axb6 12.Be2 O-O 

13.Ng5 Bxe2 14.Qxe2 Qd7

Draw was fixed on the 14th move by agreement of the opponents because Black's advantage is extremely little only

Hmmm... I Didn't Know That

Recently, an opponent in one of my games at Chess.com made a slip, a move that would hang his Queen.

He messaged me to let me know.

I messaged back that in a friendly game, I would allow a take back.

When I explored the chess website, however, I learned that a player could not take back a move, or allow his opponent to take back a move.

Unless the game was against one of their bots.

I didn't know that.

I wasn't sure what to do next.

So, I offered my opponent a draw.

(In all fairness, had it been a Jerome Gambit game, I would probably have taken the full point.)

Jerome Gambit: New Video

 

If you would like a video primer of how to deal with a defender who only wants to take the first sacrificed piece in the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Ke6) 

check out

Jerome Gambit by White - YouTube YouTube Jerome Gambit by White. Golden combinations in the ocean of games. @BananosApartamentos Golden combinations in the ocean of games. https://www.youtube.com/@BananosApartamentos I think it would be awesome if the creator turned attention to more lines of the Jerome Gambit!

Jerome Gambit: All Is New That Has Been Forgotten

 

I just received the latest issue (#43, July 2025) of the Unorthodox Openings Newsletter, from Lev Zilbermintz, Editor-in-Chief. (https://unorthodoxchessopenings.com/UON/UON-43.pdf)

UON#43 contains a lot of unorthodox games and analysis, as well as a long, historical article that I wrote about the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+).

I based my piece on the article that I wrote for the German language chess magazine, Kaissiber, which went unpublished; and which I serialized on this blog in 2008, "The Jerome Gambit Article (Parts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, & 8).

Check it out.

Jerome Gambit: Experience Counts

There is enough chaos in the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) that experience is an important factor in success.

The following game illustrates.

Tracy824 - leekaiinthesky

10 0 rapid, lichess.org, 2025

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ke6 

Tracy824 has 155 games with this position in The Database, scoring 63%.

7.f4 Nf6

Black's attack on White's Queen feels like a knee-jerk reaction.

The Database has 472 games with this  position, with White scoring 66%.

Even better than that, Tracy826 has scored 13 - 1 from this line.

Stockfish 16.1 assesses a swing in the balance of the game with this move, from Black being up the equivalent of about 3 pawns, to White being up the equivalant of about 2 pawns.

Jerome Gambit. 

(The strongest move was 7...d6) 

8.Qxe5+ Kf7 9.Qxc5 Re8 

Tracy 825 has also seen 9...d6 10.Qe3: 

Tracy824 - ewolcan, blitz, lichess.org, 2024 (1-0, 35)

Tracy824 - ooner2024, 5 0 blitz, lichess.org, 2024 (1-0, 17)

Tracy824 - Mr_mhjn, 5 0 blitz, lichess.org 2024 (1-0, 13)

Tracy824 - Wanji20, 5 0 blitz, lichess.org, 2024 (1-0, 17)

Tracy824 - hanymohamed, 5 0 blitz, lichess.org, 2024 (0-1, 52)

Tracy824-Njaja, 5 0 blitz, lichess.org, 2024 (1-0, 21) 

Tracy824 - Drip1970, 5 0 blitz, lichess.org, 2025 (1-0, 56)

Tracy824 - DavidVart2022, 5 0 blitz, lichess.org, 2025 (1-0, 24)

Tracy824 - Iv-Iv-D, 5 0 blitz, lichess.org, 2025 (1-0, 19) 

Tracy824 - esamghabour, 10 0 blitz, lichess.org, 2025 (1-0, 59)

Tracy824 - hanymohamed, 5 0 blitz, lichess.org, 2025 (1-0, 40)

Tracy824 - kerikn, 5 0 blitz, lichess.org, 2025 (1-0, 67) 

10.d3 d6 11.Qf2 Ng4 12.Qg3 Qf6 

White has a 2 pawn advantage, and will soon put it to use.

13.O-O Bd7 14.h3 Nh6 15.Nc3 Kg8 

16.f5 b5 17.Bg5 Qd4+ 18.Be3 Qf6 19.Nd5 

The Knight threatens the enemy Queen and also threatens the fork at c7. Retreating the Queen would allow White to grab Black's Knight.

19...Qxb2 20.Bxh6 

Even more deadly was 20.f6, when either 20...g6 is met by 21.Bxh6, or 20...Ng4 is met by 21.f7+.

20...c6 21.c3 

Cutting off Black's Queen from defense of the Kingside.

21...g6 22.Nf6+ Black resigned

Black has had enough. His Bishop and Rook are threatened, White's Queen can infiltrate with Qxd6, and Black's defenses can be broken down with fxg6.