BSJG: Quickly Turn the Game Into A Mess

                                               

The Blackburne Shilling Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nd4 4.Bxf7+) can quickly turn the game into a mess - one that can prove deadly to the defender's King.

perrypawnpusher - zgajek

Not only the Italians play the Italian, Chess.com, 2025

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nd4 4.Bxf7+ 

The Blackburne Shilling Jerome Gambit.

4...Kxf7 

Declining the piece with 4...Ke7 is insufficient, 5.Bxg8 Rxg8 (5...d6 6.d3 Be6 7.Bg5+ Kd7 8.Bxd8 Black resigned, perrypawnpusher - michon, blitz, FICS, 2013) 6.Nxe5 Kd6 7.Nf3? (7.Nc7+) c5 8.Nxd4 cxd4 as in, perrypawnpusher - michon, blitz, FICS, 2013 (1-0, 41).

5.Nxe5+ Ke6 

Not quite a strong is 5...Ke7 6.c3 d6 7.cxd4 dxe5 8.dxe5 as in perrypawnpusher - michon, blitz, FICS, 2013 (1-0, 18)

6.c3 

I have been 8 - 0 with this move. 

6...Nc6 

Black's move is Stockfish 16.1' s choice (30 ply), resulting with an advantage of about 3/4 pawn for Black. 

Grabbing material with 6...Kxe5 7.cxd4+ is a critical line, where Black does best to tip toe away with 7...Ke6 

7.d4 Nce7 

Creative.

Black's safest path was 7...Nxe5 8. dxe5 Kf7 and the King retreats toward safety. 

7...Nf6 is not sufficient, followed by 8.O-O Ke7 9.Nxc6+ dxc6 10.e5 Qd5 11.exf6+ gxf6. 

8.d5+ 

Less powerful, but still effective is 8.Qg4+ as in perrypawnpusher - Abatwa, blitz, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 8)

8...Kxe5 

Or 8...Kd6 9.Nc4+ Kc5 10.b4+ Kb5 11.Nba3+ Ka6 12.Qa4 checkmate 

Or 8...Nxd5 9.Qxd5+ Kf6 10.Qf7+ Kxe5 11.Bf4+ Kxe4 12.Nd2+ Kd3 13.Qf5 checkmate 

9.Qd4+ Kd6 10.Bf4 checkmate

Happy Thanksgiving!

 

Happy Thanksgiving!

Yes, it looks like the board is 6x8 squares.

And j'doube.

ChatGPT still needs to up its game, at least as an artist.

For a warmup, see "JeromeGambit: AI", "Jerome Gambit: AI Once More", and 

"Jerome Gambit: Has ChatGPT Learned Anything" and SMH: ChatGPT Again".

BSJG: Off-Setting Surprises

One reason club players employ the Jerome Gambit - or its relative, the Blackburne Shilling Jerome Gambit, as in this game - is the surprise or shock value. Putting the defender off his or her game can lead to quick gains.

perrypawnpusher - zgajek

Not only the Italians play the Italian, Chess.com, 2025

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nd4 

The Blackburne Shilling Gambit.

See "Blackburne Shilling Jerome Gambit" with my note to the game perrypawnpusher - patitolo FICS rated blitz, FICS, 2005 (1-0, 18)

Here I was supposed to capture the e-pawn and foolishly fall to my death: 4.Nxe5 Qg5 5.Nxf7 Qxg2 6.Rf1 Qxe4 7.Be2 Nf3 checkmate as in Muhlock - Kostic, Cologne 1912

4.Bxf7+ 

The Blackburne Shilling Jerome Gambit.

So-called, even though I have not yet found any Joseph Blackburne games with either the Shilling Gambit or the Shilling Jerome Gambit; and the same for Alonzo Wheeler Jerome. The earliest example of the Blackburne Shilling Jerome Gambit  in The Database is Nater, Carl - Rogers, Ian, Begonia op 9th, Ballarat, 1975 (0-1, 46). 

I suspect that I was supposed to be surprised by Black's third move; and it looks like he was surprised by my fourth move.

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Ke6 6.c3 

The Database shows that I am 8 - 0 with this move, in this opening.

6...Nc6 

Black's move is Stockfish 16.1's choice (30 ply), assessing the position as about 3/4 pawn better for the second player.

7. d4 Nce7 

Avoiding the pawn fork, but the straightforward 7...Nxe5 8.dxe5 is fine as long as Black retreats his King with 8...Kf7 or challenges the center right away with 8...d6.

8.d5+ 

Or 8.Qg4+ Black resigned, in perrypawnpusher - Abatwa, blitz, FICS, 2010.

8...Kxe5 

Might as well, as all moves lose, e.g. 8...Kd6 9.Nc4+ Kc5 10.b4+ Kb5 11.Nba3+ Ka6 12.Qa4 checkmate; and 8...Nxd5 9.Qxd5+ Kf6 10.Qf7+ Kxe5 11.Bf4+ Kxe4 12.Nd2+ Kd3 13.Qf5 checkmate 

9.Qd4+ Kd6 10.Bf4 checkmate

Jerome Gambit Book (Part 8)

 

                                     

A summary

From Part 1

Bill Wall, whose games and comments have graced many posts on this blog, recently informed me of a book on the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) at archive.org...

The cover indicates the book is by "Chess Notes", although the first of that name that comes to mind is Edward Winter's "Chess Notes" - and I seriously doubt that this is Winter's work. I have emailed him about this, and will share his response. 

 As we have seen in Part 7

...I have received word from Mr. Winter, who says the book is not his work.

Further, in Part 2

As mentioned in the earlier post, the following game from the book features "W So" playing the Jerome Gambit against "Delmonico" in the "N Eljanov Memorial final 6th 2021"...

I suspect that if the reference is to Wesley So, an American grandmaster rated over 2750, if he had played a Jerome Gambit it would be notable, and it would have been covered on chess sites all over the internet - yet that has not happened. (Especially since Stockfish 16.1 assesses the final position as about 4 1/4 pawns better for Black.) I have messaged Mr. So about this, and will share his response.

From the entry in Wikipedia

Wesley Barbossa So (born October 9, 1993) is a Filipino and American chess grandmaster, a three-time U.S. Chess Champion, and the first World Fischer Random Chess Champion. He is also a three-time Philippine Chess Champion. On the March 2017 FIDE rating list, he was ranked number two in the world and had an Elo rating of 2822, making him the fifth-highest-rated player in history.

I recently heard back from Mr. So, who wrote, unsurprisingly

Total BS these chess ebooks. No such tournament that I know of and if there is I never played in it nor used that gambit. Have a nice day.

Returning to Part 1

Many of the notes to the games within are by "Kitty Kat", otherwise unidentified. A Chess.com robot entity? I don't know.

As Bill Wall recently wrote to me

This Kitty Kat guy wrote in one of his books that he plays corr. chess and seems to be American.

What can I say, now?

Here, kitty, kitty! Here, kitty, kitty! 

Jerome Gambit: Just Like That

GeNer4tion_KiLL - mahan9191

Streamer Arena August '25, lichess.org, 2025

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ g6 

7.Qxe5 d6 

Blackburne's defense, an offer of a Rook. I think that the game is ultimately a draw, but there are complications along the way.

8.Qxh8 Qh4 

9.d4 Qxe4+ 10.Be3 Bb6 

Black would do better with 10...Qxg2, to counter White's aggression. 

11.Qxh7+ Black resigned

Black is down an exchange and a couple of pawns. His King is in danger, while White's King is not.

Jerome Gambit: Leads to A Highly Complex Position

 

In 900 Miniatures of the Blackmar-Diemer Gambit, Eduardo Piza writes

When discussing the merits of a particular move, it is important to consider not only its immediate impact but also its long-term consequences. A move that may appear to be a poor decision at the time may, in fact, be a strategic error that leads to a highly complex position where it is likely that one of the players (or both) will end up making a mistake. This is precisely what occurs when a gambit is proposed. A move that is not entirely accurate is deliberately made, which introduces an inequality into the position, creating a high degree of difficulty and making it unlikely that the opponent will find the optimal defense

Piza has in mind the Blackmar-Diemer Gambit, 1.d4 d5 2.e4 dxd4 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.f3, but he might just as well have been talking about the Jerome Gambit,  1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+. 

Jerome Gambit Book (Part 7)

 

I have an update concerning an ongoing chess mystery.

As I wrote in "Jerome Gambit Book (Part 1)"

Bill Wall, whose games and comments have graced many posts on this blog, recently informed me of a book on the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) at archive.org...

The cover indicates the book is by "Chess Notes", although the first of that name that comes to mind is Edward Winter's "Chess Notes" - and I seriously doubt that this is Winter's work. I have emailed him about this, and will share his response. 

Having expanded upon the topic further - see Parts 2, 3, 4, 5 & 6 - I can now report that I have received word from Mr. Winter, who says the book is not his work.

He further points out that there is a slew of e-books (146) identified as being by "Chess Notes". They can be seen at the Internet Archive,  both game collections and ECO-style tables. 

Both book formats transcend the "database dump" label, including diagrams, for example (see below), and formatting; although they still have occasional repetitions in the game introductions that are indicative of merged databases, done without the necessary culling.  

Although the books are mostly concerned with individual openings, some focus on particular maestri - Bird, Firouzja, Gukesh, Dommaraju, Maghsoodloo, Muzychuk, Svidler, Wei and Yip.

Some of the books report on tournaments - Moscow 1935, Chennai 2024, Qatar Masters 2024, US Chess Masters 2024, Djerba Chess Festival 2025, Monaco Women's FIDE Grand Prix 2025, Nikosia Women's FIDE Grand Prix, and Tata Steel 2025.

All of the books can be read on the Internet Archive website. There is a helpful search function. The books can also be downloaded (I chose the PDF format for Jerome Gambit.)

So - the Jerome Gambit book is not Edward Winter's creation, and I continue to research who the author might be.