Jerome Gambit: Despite

Despite the fact that the Jerome Gambit and its relatives are considered "refuted" openings, devotees continue to play the lines, with success.

The Database has almost 1,300 games by angelcamina, who scores 64% - all at bullet speed.

In the following game, he collects another point.

angelcamina - GGGOKHANSS

1 0 bullet, lichess.org, 2025

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nd4 

The Blackburne Shilling Gambit

4.Bxf7+ 

The Blackburne Shilling Jerome Gambit.

4...Ke7 

"The only way to defeat a gambit is to accept it." - Steinitz

"I don't believe in psychology. I believe in good moves." - Fischer

"Capturing the Bishop is about a pawn better for Black; Declining the Bishop is about 3 pawns better for White" - Stockfish 16.1, if it could talk

5.Nxe5 

The text is about as strong as retreating the Bishop to c4 or b3 - or capturing the Knight: 5.Bxg8 Nxf3+ 6.Qxf3 d6 7.Bb3 Qe8 8.d4 exd4 9.Bg5+ Kd7 10.Qf5+ Kc6 11.Ba4+ b5 12.Qxb5 checkmate, angelcamina - Black_attac, 1 0 bullet, lichess.org, 2019 

5...d6 

Or, 5...Nf6 6.Bb3 d6 7.Nf3 Bg4 8.c3 Nxf3+ 9.gxf3 Bh5 10.d4 Kd7 11.Be3 c6 12.Nd2 Kc7 13.Qc2 Be7 14.O-O-O Rc8 15.Bf4 Kb8 16.e5 dxe5 17.dxe5 Nd5 18.Ne4 Ka8 19.Bg3 Bf7 20.Nd6 Bxd6 21.exd6 Qb6 22.c4 Nb4 23.Qf5 Bg6 24.Qg5 Rhe8 25.d7 Black resigned, angelcamina - BatuBey_22, 1 0 bullet, lichess.org, 2022 

6.Bxg8 dxe5 7.Bc4 

Or, retreating further, 7 Bb3 Ke8 8.O-O Be6 9.Bxe6 Nxe6 10.c3 Ng5 11.d4 Bd6 12.dxe5 Bxe5 13.Qxd8+ Rxd8 14.f4 Nxe4 15.fxe5 Ng5 16.Bxg5 Rd5 17.Bf4 Rd2 18.Nxd2 Black resigned, angelcamina - nicolasabra, lichess.org, 2019

7...Ke8 

This looks something like the position after move 3, with one less Knight for White and two fewer pawns for Black. Oh, and Black's King can no longer castle.

White now collects some material.

8.Qh5+ g6 9.Qxe5+ Kd7 10.Qxd4+ Ke8 11.Qxh8 

Down a Rook, a Knight, and 3 pawns, Black decides to continue playing. Perhaps he has an eye on the clock? It is a 1-minute game, after all.

11...Bg4 12.Qe5+ Be7 13.d3 c6 14.Bg5 Qd7 15.Bxe7 Qxe7 16.Qxe7+ Kxe7 

Did Henry David Thoreau play chess? In any event, his advice here was followed: Simplify, simplify simplify.

17.O-O Be6 18.Bxe6 Kxe6 19.Nc3 Rd8 20.f4 b5 21.Rae1 a5 

In short order, White now opens lines, creates a passed pawn, and always has his eyes on checkmate.

22.f5+ gxf5 23.exf5+ Kf6 24.Ne4+ Ke5 25.f6 Rf8 26.f7 Ke6 27.Ng5+ Kd7 28.Nxh7 Rxf7 29.Rxf7+ Kd6 30.Ng5 Black resigned

Jerome Gambit: One of My Favorite Games

I was recently reminded (i.e. "Jerome Gambit: Have A Plan") of one of my favorite Jerome Gambit games, alluded to in a post over a dozen years ago, "I tell ya, I don't get no respect...".

breaker - gobo

Tournament #1, ChessWorld.net, 2005

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5.h4 

Another example of an opening line most recently looked at in "Jerome Gambit: Have A Plan".

5...Nf6 6.c3 Re8 7.Qb3+ d5 8.c4 d4 9.d3 Rb8 

White has locked the center, a wise idea given Black's advantage in material and development.

10.h5 Kg8 11.Nh4 Nxh5 

At this point in the game, both players timed out.

Mark it on the score sheet, not "1-0" or "0-1", but "0-0".

Jerome Gambit: Have A Plan

One way of getting past the nagging little problem that the Jerome Gambit is actually a refuted opening is to have a plan, even as your opponent stalls in his resistance.

It helps if the time limit is fast, too, as in the following bullet game.

TColbert - PorkBun0

1 0 bullet, lichess.org, 2025

1. e4 e5 2. Bc4 Nc6 3. Nf3 Bc5 4.Bxf7+

4...Kxf7 5.h4 

This is a creative line in the Jerome Gambit, in this case, headed toward a delayed "Face Palm" variation. The move was looked at a few years ago in "Jerome Gambit: Smash!"

5...Qf6 6.Ng5+ 

Having said "A", White says "B".

6...Kf8 7.O-O h6 8.Nf3 Nge7 

White is behind in development, but he at least has the safer King.

He could use a little help, however.

9.c3 d5 10.d4 Bb6 11.exd5 Nxd5 

12.dxe5 Nxe5 

Ah, yes, remember: this is a 1-minute game.

13.Qxd5 

Now Black can bail out of this breakout by White, into an even game, with 13...Nxf3+ 14.Qxf3 Qxf3 15.gxf3. 

13...Ke8 14.Re1 White won on time

Black is losing a piece, too.

Jerome Gambit: Gratitude

The following Jerome Gambit game contains the kind of slip that happens in blitz or bullet.

The proper response for the first player - even if the move comes as a surprise - is one of gratitude.

feritTurkey - w4urae

2 1 bullet, lichess.org, 2024

1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Nc6 3.Nf3 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ g6 7.Qxe5 Be7 

If you are playing the Jerome Gambit, expecting 7...Qe7 or 7...d6, and you encounter this move, do not despair.

The move may come as a surprise, but it is a pleasant one. The Database has 72 examples, with White winning 78% of the time.

 

8.Qxh8 

Black resigned

White is ahead the exchange and two pawns. If Black had planned to put his Bishop on f6 to protect his Rook (or attack the enemy Queen) it is already too late.

Jerome Gambit: Unusual

 

A dozen and a half years ago - in the first year of this blog - I learned of an unusual line in the Jerome Gambit.

Of course, back then, I mentioned the Pausen variation here, but I was not prepared to see how many regular Jerome Gambit players would eventually encounter it: angelcamina, Babypawnmonster, chessriddler, drumme, DutchLiLi, HauntedKnight, Littleplayerparis, perrypawnpusher, UNPREDICTABLE, Wall, ZahariSokolov, ZeKnightRider - and more.

The following game is Matthew_Slater's second such encounter.

Matthew_Slater - SeattleSeahaksfan

1 0 bullet, Chess.com, 2024

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5. Nxe5+ Ke7 

This is not a strong reply, but in a 60-second game, taking the game off of the beaten path is often worth it, because of the thinking time that it costs an opponent.

As we shall see, the tactic was only partially effective.

6.Qh5 Bxf2+ 

I am impressed by SeattleSeahaksfan's play. Stockfish 16.1 sees this return of material as best. No other game in The Database has this move.

7.Kxf2 Qf8+ 8.Ke1 Nd4 

9.Nc3 

Cold-blooded - and correct.

9...Nxc2+ 

It is not likely that, with an eye-blink's worth of thought, Black would have found 9...Nf6, driving the enemy Queen back to protect the square his Knight was attacking, 10.Qd1, then further ejection with 10...d6 11.Nf3 Bg4. White would be a pawn better, in that line; while in the text, the Rook on a1 is poisoned. 

10.Kd1 Nxa1 

In for a penny, in for a pound.

11.Nd5+ Kd6 12.Nc4+ Kc5 

Things are not looking good for Black's King.

13.Nxc7+ 

This move holds the promise of winning the Rook at a8, but there was also 13.b4+ Kb5 14.Nc3+ Kxc4 15.Qb5+ Kd4 16.Qd5 checkmate - not easy to catch in a bullet game. 

Now White gathers material.

13...Kc6 14.Nxa8 d6 15.Qd5+ Kd7 16.Ne5+ Ke7 17.Nc7 Bd7 18.Nxd7 Kxd7 19.Nb5 Ke7 20 Qxd6+ Kf7 

21.Qd5+ Kf6 22.Nd6 

Tightening the noose. After the game, he likely found 22.Rf1+ Kg6 23.Rxf8 Ne7 24.Qf7+ Kh6 25.d3+ g5 26.Rxh8 Ng8 27.Qxh7# 

22...Kg6 23.Nf5 Kf6 24.Qd6+ 

It is clear that Black's King will not escape.

24...Kf7 25.Qxf8+ Kxf8 26.Ke2 Kf7 27.d3 Ke6 28.Be3 Ke5 29.Rxa1 b6 

This has to be a nod toward the clock, as White's extra piece and two passers are enough to win easily.

30.d4+ Kxe4 31.b4 Kxf5 

Okay: Tick tock, tick tock...

32.a4 Ke6 33.a5 bxa5 34.Rxa5 a6 35.Rxa6+ Kd5 36. b5 Kc4 37.Ra5 Kb4 

38.b6 

The text is based on the idea that White's Rook can be jettisoned as his pawn races ahead. Just so - although the assessment overlooks the other side of the board.

With a few more minutes' thinking time, he would have found 38.Ra8 Kxb5 39.Rc8!?, when Black's Knight is pinned, his Rook is tied down to the Knight, and his King is cut off from stopping the advance of White's d-pawn.

38...Kxa5 39.b7 Ka4 

The clock ticks for Black, as well.

Seeing that he cannot catch the pawn, the King runs away from the future Queen, overlooking 39...Nf6, which would uncover the Rook and save the day.

40.b8=Q Ka3 41.Bd2 Ka2 42.Qb4 Ka1 43.Bc3+ Ka2 44.Qb2 checkmate

Jerome Gambit: Playing the Most Popular Moves?!

I have been having a lot of fun watching the many You Tube videos by Kaspa Chess.

Exploring different chess openings, move-by-move, the presenter follows the line of play most popular in the lichess.org database. 

I thought that I would give the same approach to the Jerome Gambit, so I visited lichess.org and began entering the opening's moves.

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5

It turns out that each of these moves were the top choice.

4.Bxf7+

Well, this is only the 8th most popular move at lichess.org, but that's how we get the Jerome. 

By the way, the database has over 800,000 Jerome Gambit games.

4...Kxf7

A full 97% of the games included this capture.

5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+

Each move was the overwhelming favorite. No surprise.

6...Ng6

This is the top choice, 50% vs 19% for 6...Ke6. That was a bit of a surprise to me, but, I guess 6...Ke6 and 6...g6 (18%) are more committal.

7.Qxc5

Okay, I like the "nudge" 7.Qd5+ before capturing the Bishop, to displace the King to where it might interfere with the development of his Rook - but that is the second most popular choice at lichess.org.

7...d6

Easily #1.

8.Qd5+ Be6 9.Qxb7

White now has 3 pawns for his sacrificed piece, but I have always labelled this line of play with a "Caution" sign.

9...Nf6 10.d3 Re8

Black's move is barely more popular than the second choice, 10...Rf8 (857 games vs 844).

11.O-O Kg8

King safety is easy to understand.

12.Bg5 h6 13.Bxf6 Qxf6 14.Qxc7 Qxb2

Pawn grabs are not just for White.

15.Nd2 

15...Qxc2

What in the world??

We are down to only 12 games in this line in the lichess.org database, after 15.Nd2, and the text is the most popular response, really - 3 games.

16.Qxc2 Black resigned

And that is how the line at lichess.org ended, along with the games mulong28 - xJO3Yx, 1 0 bullet, lichess, 2021 and hassankondri - pradhanguru1982, 5 0 blitz, lichess.org, 2022

Jerome Gambit: The Bishops Bounty

Well, I am somewhat late to the party, as the post apparently went up on February 4, 2025, but it is still important to mention The Bishops Bounty website, with its massive amount of chess information, most especially, their post "The Jerome Gambit: Free Ultimate Guide to History, Tactics & Modern Mastery (With Curated Resources)" - a fantastic resource for anyone interested in 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+.

You can start with "The Jerome Gambit: Chess’s Most Dangerous (and Delightful) Experiment" where you can learn that the site has 

In This Free Jerome Gambit Archive:

• ✅ Rare historical archives of Alonzo Wheeler Jerome’s original games
• 📺 Video breakdowns of aggressive chess tactics and traps
• 🧩 Puzzles testing your ability to exploit open kings
• 🔥 Debates on its effectiveness in modern chess
• 🏆 Famous Jerome Gambit games that left audiences speechless

Whether you’re a thrill-seeking player or a chess historian, this is your roadmap to mastering (or mocking) the opening that turns “quiet games” into firefights. Let’s ignite the board.

The site is very well done, and I tip my hat and bow to its creator. It is certainly the thing that I should have created - were I that skillful.

Go visit. But, be careful, there is so much content there to grab you, time will fly by while your are enjoying the visit.