Jerome Gambit: "Too Creative"

The wrong defense to the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) makes White's attack look very good.

The following game is a fun example.

Tracy824 - Alex3959

5 0 blitz, lichess.org, 2025

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ke6 

7.f4 Ng6 

About this Knight retreat in "Jerome Gambit: Pillar to Post"

Some reflections -

from "Superpippo!"

This move, despite the soundness of the basic idea – save one piece and return another – is too "creative" and leads to an even game. With a regular opening, having Black reach equality this early is an accomplishment for the second player, but in the Jerome Gambit – where White spots his opponent two pieces – it is a sign that something has already gone wrong for Black. 

from "Alonzo Wheeler Jerome's Dream"

The kind of move - withdrawing a piece from attack - that someone unfamiliar with the Jerome Gambit might make quickly. (Best was 7...Qf6). 

My guess is that at this point Bill [Wall,B - Guest1157782, playchess.com, 2013 (1-0, 20)] got out his psychic micrometer, measured the apparent depth of his opponent's experience with (or understanding of) the opening, and chose a line of play that was most efficacious against an unschooled or uneasy opponent. 

from "Jerome Gambit: The Way It Is"

With more time to consider - the whole point of playing the Jerome Gambit... is that Black does not have much time to consider - Black would have found the less sensible (but stronger) 7...d6, 7...Nd3, 7...Qf6 or 7...d5.

8.f5+ 

This move appears in 55 games in The Database. White scores 69%.

The alternative, 8.Qxc5, appears in 54 games. White scores 79%. 

Stockfish 16.1 asseses Black about 1 1/4 pawns better in the first case, and about even in the second.

8...Kd6

Tracy824 has also faced

8...Kf6 9.fxg6 Nh6 10.Qxc5 hxg6 11.O-O+ Ke6 12.Qd5+ Ke7 13.Qe5 checkmate, Tracy824 - muchtarpcw, lichess.org, 2025; and 

8...Ke7 9.fxg6 d6 10.d4 (10.d3 Nf6 11.Bg5 hxg6 12.Qf3 Rh5 13.h4 Bd4 14.c3 Bb6 15.Nd2 Kf7 16.O-O-O Qd7 17.d4 Qa4 18.Rhf1 Bg4 19.Qxg4 Qxa2 20.e5 dxe5 21.dxe5 Black resigned,Tracy824 - Ankushmajumdaar, lichess.org, 2024) 10...Bxd4 11.gxh7 Nf6 12.Bg5 Bxb2 13.O-O Bxa1 14.c3 Be6 15.Kh1 b5 16.Qh4 Qf8 17.Nd2 Bxc3 18.Nf3 a5 19.Rc1 b4 20.a3 Kd7 21.e5 Rxh7 22.Qf2 Ng4 23.Qe2 Nxh2 24.Nxh2 Bxe5 25.Qb5+ Kc8 26.Qc6 Rxh2+ 27.Kg1 Ra7 28.Be3 Rb7 29.Qa6 Bd5 30.Qa8+ Rb8 31.Qxd5 Qh8 32.Qe6+ Kd8 33.Bg5+ Bf6 34.Bxf6+ gxf6 35.Rf1 Rh1+ 36.Kf2 Rxf1+ 37.Kxf1 bxa3 38.Qa2 Black resigned, Tracy824 - Poggss, lichess.org, 2025 

9.fxg6 Bd4 

Black's move is unexpected - reinforcing the Kingside side of the a1-h8 diagonal? 

Tracy824 also faced 9...Qf6 10.Qd5+ Ke7 11.Qxc5+ d6 12.Qf2 Qxf2+ 13.Kxf2 hxg6 14.d3 Nf6 15.Bg5 b6 16.Nc3 Bb7 17.h3 Rhf8 18.Ke3 Kd7 19.Rhf1 Nh7 20.a4 Rxf1 21.Rxf1 Nxg5 22.h4 Ne6 23.d4 Rf8 24.Re1 g5 25.d5 Nf4 26.Kd2 Nxg2 27.Rg1 Nxh4 28.Rxg5 Nf3+ 29.Ke3 Nxg5 White resigned, Tracy824 - Tom0408, lichess.org, 2025 

Probably best was 9...Nf6.

10.Qd5+ Black resigned

 

Jerome Gambit: Creative and Cool, Again

The lichess.org player rincincinzio has 400 games in The Database. 

Here is one of them.

rincincinzio - jayamie

1 0 bullet, lichess.org, 2025

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ke6 

7.f4 Nd3+ 

I like, play, and score well with the Jerome Gambit - 82%.

Still, I like this move. Black must have played it with a smile on his face.

This has been touched upon in an earlier post, "Jerome Gambit: For You or Against You"

I have posted earlier

I like this quirky move. Stockfish 15 does, too, seeing Black as almost 4 pawns better. Still, The Database has 25 games with this move, with White scoring 64%.

As I wrote in "Jerome Gambit: It Takes More Than A Move"

Creative and cool.

Anyone who has read Aron Nimzowitsch's The Blockade will recognize the idea behind this move.

Something similar is equally deadly for Black, when the d-pawn is blocked, which in turn blocks the Bishop, which then keeps the Rook from entering the game. 

I have looked at this move before, in "Brilliant, but Not Sound" and "Jerome Gambit: The Hurrieder I Go, The Behinder I Get", where you will see Petasluk mentioned as well.

The numbers, today, from The Database: 73 games with this position, White scores 64% - despite the fact that Stockfish 16.1 evaluates the position (32 ply) as 2 3/4 pawns better - for Black.

Jerome Gambit. 

8.cxd3 Be7 

What to do about the Bishop? It could have retreated to b6, or even f8. Or Black could have hit the center (best) with 8...d5. 

Instead, it blocks the King's retreat.

In a 1-minute bullet game, this kind of thing can happen.

9.Qf5+ Kd6 10.Qd5 checkmate

Jerome Gambit: Remarkably 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

 

Another short video 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: 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