Jerome Gambit: Do You Know the Jerome Gambit?

Yury V. Bukayev pointed out to me in an email that a recent search of the internet turned up a link to the online YouTube video "Do You Know the Jerome Gambit? SpeedRuimS05E15" by Brazilian Grandmaster Krikor Mekhitarian (GMKrikor) rated 2543.

Yury could not reach the site, but passed the link on to me.

Although Grandmaster Mekhitarian spoke in Portugese, I was able to play over an auto-dubbed version of the video in English.

I have to say that I am always impressed when someone can play strong chess while simultaneously commenting on the opening, the moves, the threats, the counters, etc. (I can barely walk and chew gum at the same time.)

Someone had suggested to Grandmaster Mekhitarian that he play the Jerome Gambit. As he started the game, he admitted "I don't know what this is..."

The online 3-minute game had not gone far when the grandmaster's words proved true.

SpeedBemRuim - dmc65

3 0 blitz, Chess.com, 2026

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

"Ah, let's do Jerome" said the grandmaster. 

4.Bxf7+ Kxf7

"This gambit is a big piece of ... I don't know what the idea is, c3 maybe?"

5.c3 

The Database is incomplete concerning this move. Still, it contains 3,077 games with this position. White scores 50%.

Additionally, the lichess.org database has 91,000 games with this position. White scores 53%.

(By comparison, The Database has 44,043 games with 5.Nxe5+, Alonzo Wheeler Jerome's gambit, with White scoring 56%.)

5...d6 

At this point we can rule out the game being a classical Jerome Gambit - there will not be a Nxe5+ by White, the wayAlonzo Wheeler Jerome played it (is it a modern Jerome Gambit; definitely not a fried  or burnt Jerome) supporting the grandmaster in that he was accurate when saying he didn't know the opening. (Why would he?)

In the video, Grandmaster Krikor Mekhitarian continued his 3 0 game and won in 32 moves: 6.d4 (immediately putting 5.c3 to use) exd4 7.cxd4 Bb4+ 8.Nc3 Bxc3+ 9.bxc3 Nf6 10.O-O Re8 11.Qb3+ Kf8 12.Bg5 h6 13.Bh4 Rxe4 14.Rfe1 Rxe1+ 15.Rxe1 Bg4 16.Qxb7 Bxf3 17.gxf3 Ne7 18.Bxf6 gxf6 19.Qe4 Qe8 20.Kh1 Qf7? 21.Qxa8+ Kg7 22.Rg1+ Kh7 23.Qe4+ f5 24.Qh4 Ng6 25.Qg3 f4 26.Qg4 Ne7 27.a4 Nd5 28.c4 Nc3 29.a5 Ne2 30.Rd1 h5 31.Qg5 Nc3 32.Re1  Black resigned

Interesting game, yes.

Educational game, yes.

Many thanks to Grandmaster Krikor Mekhitarian.

Jerome Gambit: Again, the f-file

F

In the following game, White quickly attacks Black's King. The f-file, as often happens, plays a major part.

Alfil-de-Oro - alirezaatash

5 0 blitz, lichess.org, 2025

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 h6 

The Semi-Italian opening.

4.O-O Nf6 5.Bxf7+ 

One of the lines I have referred to as an "impatient" Jerome Gambit. After 5.Nc3 Bc5, then 6.Bxf7+ would be the Italian Four Knights Semi-Italian Jerome Gambit.

Overall, The Database has 338 games with this line, with White scoring  55%.

Alfil-de-Oro played 93 games with this sacrifice, scoring 66%.

Both results show the benefit of knowledge of and experience with the Jerome Gambit - especially since Stockfish 16.1 (35 ply) assesses the position and shows Black to be about 3 pawns ahead.

5...Kxf7 6.Nxe5+ Nxe5 7.d4 Ng6 8.e5 

8...Ne8 

Possible is 8...Nd5. Best is the offer to return material with 8...d5.

9.f4 d5 10.f5 Ne7 11.Qh5+ 

White's "Jerome pawns" and his Queen pressure the enemy King.

The computer still favors Black, but the defender does not have the computer to refer to.

11...Kg8 12.f6 

The f-file threatens.

12...Nc6 

Black needed to guard f7 - like with 12...Be6 13.Nc3 Qd7 14.fxe7 Bxe7 

13.f7+ Kh7 14.fxe8=Q Bg4 15.Qhg6+ Black resigned

Checkmate is one move away.

Jerome Gambit: Might As Well Jump

 I just found a new metaphor for playing the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+), from a Q&A on the Science ABC website:

Can You Survive If You Jump In A Free-Falling Elevator Just As It Hits The Ground?

No. Jumping just as a free-falling elevator hits the ground will not save you. From, say, the 20th floor an elevator slams into the ground at roughly 30 m/s (≈108 km/h); even an Olympic-level vertical jump can only subtract about 4 m/s from your downward speed (a 15% reduction in velocity and roughly 27% in kinetic energy). You would also have to time it to within milliseconds while disoriented and weightless, which is essentially impossible. 

Similarly, playing the Jerome and counting on being able to "jump" at the last moment seems "impossible" - but players do it, successfully, every day.

For example, ryuugu-rena, playing White, below, has almost 1,600 games in The Database, scoring 58%.

ryuugu-rena - arjunsrikanth100

3 0 blitz, lichess.org, 2026

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Kf8 

This position was looked at by Alonzo Wheeler Jerome in the July 1874 issue of the Dubuque Chess Journal.

Black (who is better) indicates that he has material to return - and a King to protect.

7.Qxe5 d6 8.Qf4+ Nf6 

ryuugu-rena has aso seen 8...Qf6 9.d3 [best]

And 9.Qg3 Nh6 (9...h6 10.Nc3 Be6 11.O-O c6 12.d3 Ne7 13.Be3 Bb6 14.Qxd6 Rd8 15.Qg3 g5 16.Bxb6 axb6 17.f4 Kg7 18.e5 Qg6 19.Ne4 g4 20.Qf2 c5 21.Ng3 Nf5 22.b3 h5 23.Rad1 h4 24.Nxf5+ Qxf5 25.d4 cxd4 26.Rxd4 Rxd4 27.Qxd4 Qxc2 28.Qxb6 Qc6 29.Qf2 h3 30.f5 Bxf5 31.g3 Be4 32.Qf7+ Kh6 33.Rf6+ Qxf6 34.Qxf6+ Kh7 35.e6 Rc8 36.Qh4+ Kg7 37.Qxg4+ Bg6 38.Qd4+ Kf8 39.Qh8+ Ke7 40.Qxc8 Bf5 41.Qxb7+ Kxe6 42.Qc8+ Ke5 43.Qxf5+ Kxf5 44.a4 Ke5 45.a5 Kd5 46.b4 Kc6 47.g4 Kb5 48.g5 Kxb4 49.a6 Black resigned, ryuugu-rena - ArTuR-GmB, 3 0 blitz, lichess.org, 2022) 10.O-O Kf7 11.Nc3 c6 12.d3 Rf8 13.e5 dxe5 14.Ne4 Qe7 15.Bxh6 gxh6 16.Qf3+ Kg8 17.Qh5 Bb6 18.Qxh6 Bf5 19.Ng3 Rf6 20.Qg5+ Bg6 21.Nh5 Rf7 22.Qg3 Kh8 23.Qg4 Raf8 24.Ng3 Rxf2 25.Kh1 Rxf1+ 26.Rxf1 Rxf1+ 27.Nxf1 Qc5 28.Qc8+ Kg7 29.Qxb7+ Kh6 30.d4 Qxd4 31.Ne3 Qxe3 32.Qxb6 Qxb6 33.c3 Qxb2 34.a3 Qc1 checkmate, ryuugu-rena - simonafude, 3 0 blitz, lichess.org, 2021; 

And 9.Qxf6+ Nxf6 10.c3 Nxe4 11.d4 Bb6 12.O-O Kf7 13.f3 Nf6 14.Bg5 Bf5 15.Nd2 Rhe8 16.g4 Bg6 17.f4 Bd3 18.Rf3 Bb5 19.c4 Bxd4+ 20.Kg2 Bc6 21.Ne4 Nxe4 White resigned, ryuugu-rena - Mujikt, 3 0 blitz, lichess.org, 2022 

9...Qxf4 10.Bxf4 Nf6 11.Nc3 a6 12.O-O-O Bd7 13.d4 Bb6 14.e5 Nh5 15.Bg3 Nxg3 16.fxg3 Ke7 17.Nd5+ Kd8 18.Rhe1 dxe5 19.dxe5 Ba7 20.e6 Bc6 21.Nb6+ Ke7 22.Nxa8 Rxa8 23.Kb1 Rf8 24.a3 b5 25.Rd2 Bb6 26.Rd3 Rf2 27.h4 Rxg2 28.Rc3 Bd5 29.Rd3 c6 30. b3 Black resigned, ryuugu-rena - ManchesterUnitedFc, 3 0 blitz, lichess.org, 2021 

9.O-O 

Or 9.Nc3 a5 10.O-O Be6 11.d3 Ke7 12.Be3 Bb4 13.Nd5+ Nxd5 14.exd5 Bxd5 15.Qg3 Kd7 16.c4 Bc6 17.Qxg7+ Kc8 18.a3 Rg8 19.Qxg8 Qxg8 20.f3 Bc5 21.d4 Ba7 22.b4 Qxc4 23.bxa5 Bxd4 24.Bxd4 Qxd4+ 25.Kh1 Kd7 26.Rad1 Qa4 White resigned, ryuugu-rena - Florian_Allgeier, 3 0 blitz, lichess.org, 2021 

9...Kf7 10.c3 

10...g5 

Black offers a pawn to open a file against the enemy King.

This is a sharp move, and quite playable in a 3-minute game.

ryuugu-rena has also faced 10...Rf8. The game continued 11.d4 Bb6 12.e5 dxe5 13.dxe5 Kg8 14.exf6 Rxf6 15.Qc4+ Be6 16.Bg5 Bxc4 17.Bxf6 Qxf6 18.Nd2 Bxf1 19.Rxf1 Re8 20.Ne4 Rxe4 21.Rd1 Qxf2+ 22.Kh1 Re1+ 23.Rxe1 Qxe1 checkmate, ryuugu-rena - Mazaness-Hacker, 3 0 blitz, lichess.org, 2023

11.Qxg5 

White takes up the offer.

Stockfish 16.1 prefers 11.Qg3 Nh5 12.Qf3+ Kg6 13.Qd1 Rf8 14.d4 Bb6, and the White Queen has quietly returned to her throne, while Black maintains his advantage.

11...Rg8 

The idea. White's Queen is going to be harassed.

12.Qf4 Rg4 13.Qf3 Rxe4 14.d4 Bg4 15.Qg3 

Black has a piece for two pawns, plus the "two Bishops".

Most of his pieces are on the battlefield, while most of White's pieces are still at home.

15...Bb6 

With apologies to the faint-hearted, it is timely to quote Ralph Waldo Emerson, "When you strike at a king, you must kill him".

Black has been hammering his opponent, but, now, suddenly, he retreats a  piece from the field.

The game could have continued 15...Be2 16.f3 Re6 17.Re1 Bb6 18.Bg5 h6 19.Bxh6 Qg8 with advantage to the second player.

16.f3 Nh5 

This move looks crushing, but, speeds up his loss. Better was 16...Re6, but after 17.fxg4 things would still look grim for him. 

17.fxe4+ Kg6 18.Qxg4+

Black resigned

Checkmate will follow.

Jerome Gambit: Homer Shakes His Head Vigorously (Part 2)

                                                         

[continued from the previous post]

perrypawnpusher - henrymehta

Wal2010's 3rd Thematic, Chess.com, 2026

                               

White has a pawn for his sacrificed piece, and has some hope for 

a compensating attack against Black's somewhat exposed King.

9.Qc4+

Or 9.Qd3 as in perrypawnpusher - anandh, blitz, FICS 2011 (0-1, 11); perrypawnpusher - Duir, blitz, FICS, 2011 (1-0, 42); and perrypawnpusher - bartab, blitz, FICS, 2012 (1-0, 19).

9...Ke8

Or 9...Ke7 as in perrypawnpusher - Avious, blitz, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 40)

Or 9...d5, the strongest response, as in perrypawnpusher - GladiadorAguila, Play The Italian Game III, Chess.com. 2023 (0-1, 31)

10.0-0 d6 11.Bg5 h6 12.Bh4 Ne5 

I am usually happy to see the defender's Knight come to e5, as I usually can boot it with a well-timed f2-f4.

13.Qe2 

After the game, Stockfish 16.1 (30 ply) recommended 13.Qb3 giving the line of play 13...c6 14.f4 Ng6 15.Bxf6 gxf6, breaking up Black's Kingside pawns.

The idea was that if the defender captured on f6 with his Queen, then 16.e5 would give White some play.

13...Be6 14.b3 

I worried about my opponent responding to my planned 14.f4 with 14...Bc4. Post-mortem computer analysis focused on giving up the exchange with 15.Qe1 Bxf1 16.fxe5 dxe5 17.Qxf1 which does not look appealing.

14...g5 15.Bg3 h5 

Wow.

It was now time for me to exchange off my threatened Bishop, but I thought that I could hold off for a move.

16.Rad1 Qe7 17.Nd5 

There is nothing to this, as henrymehta shows.

17...Nx5 18.exd5 Bg4 

Looking at this Bishop sortie a few moves earlier, I told myself I can just block it with my pawn, and I didn't give it a second thought.

Of course, when my opponent actually played the move, I looked closer, and gasped.

Sure, it was now possible to give up the exchange with 19.Qb5+ c6 20.Qb4 Bxd1, but after 21.Qxd1 I would be down a Rook for a pawn.

So I moved, expecting the worst.

19.f3 Nxf3+

Excellent.

My opponent had played too strongly for me to try to continue with 20.gxf3 Qe2 21.Rde1 Bxf3 22.Rxf3 Qxe1+ 23.Bxe1 entering the endgame down the exchange and a pawn and hoping for a swindle.

White resigned

Many years ago, a friend of my mother asked, in all sincerity, "If you are so smart, why aren't you...?" She caught herself, embarassed.

"Rich?" asked my mother.

Her friend nodded, and they both had a laugh.

So: If I am so smart when it comes to the Jerome Gambit, why couldn't I last at least 20 moves in this game?

I can only laugh.

Jerome Gambit: Homer Shakes His Head Vigorously (Part 1)

A few days ago, I posted on this blog "Homer Nods". 

Along that line of thought, today's post is fairly titled "Homer Shakes His Head Vigorously".

That said, I must compliment my opponent for his sharp, final move (and forget, as soon as possible, that he is rated 300 points less than me). 

perrypawnpusher - henrymehta

Wal2010's 3rd Thematic, Chess.com, 2026

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Nc3 Bc5 5.Bxf7+ 

The Italian Four Knights Jerome Gambit.

According to The Database, I have played the line 78 times, scoring 74%. Petty successful for a "refuted opening" - but not this time.

4...Kxf7 6.Nxe5+ Nxe5 7.d4 

7...Bxd4 

Or 

7...d6, as in perrypawnpusher - OudeKwakkelaar, blitz, FICS 2011 (1/2-1/2, 62); or

7...Bd6, as in perrypawnpusher - joseluislopez, blitz, FICS, 2012 (0-1, 55); perrypawnpusher - lixuanxuan, blitz, FICS, 2014 (1-0, 22); perrypawnpusher - LttlePrince, Italian Game Classic, Chess.com, 2020 (0-1, 29); and perrypawnpusher - andrewLLL, Italian Game Battlefield, Chess.com 2020 (1-0, 18); or

7...Bb4, as in perrypawnpusher - kezientz, blitz, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 9); perrypawnpusher - Abatwa, blitz, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 17); perrypawnpusher - Gibarian, blitz, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 33); perrypawnpusher - obmanovichhh, blitz, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 39); perrypawnpusher - Aerandir, blitz, FICS, 2011 (1-0, 15); perrypawnpusher - LydenChess, blitz, FICS, 2011 (1-0, 15); and perrypawnpusher - SSGSSGSSG, blitz, FICS, 2018 (1-0, 20);  or

7...Neg4 as in perrypawnpusher - xxfred, blitz, FICS, 2012 (0-1, 28); or

7...Re8 as in perrypawnpusher - hklett, blitz, FICS, 2013 (1-0, 31) and perrypawnpusher - strandskatan, blitz, FICS, 2013 (1-0, 38); or

7...Ng6 as in perrypawnpusher - aksakal, blitz, FICS, 2017 (1-0, 17); or

7...Nc6 as in perrypawnpusher - hudders, blitz, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 13); or 

7...Nd3+ as in perrypawnpusher - genericme, blitz, FICS, 2015 (1-0, 22); or

7...Nf3+ as in perrypawnpusher - wertu, blitz, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 20) and perrypawnpusher - catmandu, blitz, FICS, 2014 (0-1, 12); 

Are you still with me?

Good.

Because there is more.

8.Qxd4 Nc6 

Or 8...Re8 as in perrypawnpusher - hklett, blitz, FICS, 2010 (0-1, 20); perrypawnpusher - KaZC, blitz, FICS, 2010 (1/2-1/2, 61); perrypawnpusher - Fazmeister, blitz, FICS, 2011 (1-0, 36); perrypawnpusher - JoseSoza, Italian Game, Chess.com, 2012 (0-1, 34); perrypawnpusher - spince, blitz, FICS, 2014 (0-1, 41);   perrypawnpusher - andrewLLL, Italian Game Battlefield, Chess.com, 2020 (1-0, 39);

Or 8...Qe7 as in perrypawnpusher - BigKalamar, blitz, FICS, 2011 (1-0, 49) and perrypawnpusher - OudeKwakkelaar, blitz, FICS, 2014 (1-0, 16).

That's enough, for now. If you have been clicking on even a few of the links above, you've probably learned a lot about the Jerome Gambit - and had enough of this post.

[to be continued]

Jerome Gambit: Alert! Alert!

 

I make use of Google Alert to inform me when it finds "Jerome Gambit" in its searches on the internet.

Alert has been helpful, until a few days ago, when every relevant link to online sites that it found directed me back - to this blog. 

It's nice being discovered, but I already knew about me.

Jerome Gambit: Closed and Open

Closed/Open Positions

The Jerome Gambit can break the position wide open - but it also can be played in a closed manner, close-to-the-vest.

In the following game, Bill Wall keeps things closed, until it is beneficial to open the game.

Wall, Bill - Salma

SparkChess, 2025

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ng6 

7.Qd5+ Ke8 8. Qxc5 d6 9. Qe3 Nf6

Here we have a standard Jerome gambit position.

Bill has reached it in 17 of his games, scoring 94%.

10.O-O Kf7 11.d4 Re8 12.Nc3 b6 13.f4 Bb7 

Black has taken a hypermodern approach to defending against the Jerome Gambit.

Currently, his extra piece outweighs White's two extra pawns.

We have seen ideas like this before, for example in "Hypermodern Defense", "Jerome Gambit: Juggling Tactics", "Things are looking up" and "Jerome Gambit: For the Defense".

14.f5 Ne7 15.Qf3 Kg8 16.Bg5 Rf8 

Black's pieces brace for the assault.

White can open a file, or lock things down and move slowly.

17.Rad1 Qe8 18.d5 

Lock down, it is.

For now.

18...Qh5 

At first glance, this looks like a dual threat: Exchange Queens (which benefits Black, with the extra piece) or prepare an attack (with ...Ng4).

Unfortunately the move played, was actually a losing choice.

19.Qxh5 Nxh5 20.Bxe7 

Capturing the Knight means White is now two pawns ahead.

20...Rf7 

21.g4 

It was also possible to withdraw the Bishop to h4.

21...Rxe7 22.gxh5 Rf8 23.Rf3 Ba6 24.Rg3 b5 25.Rd4 c5 

Overlooking White's response.

26.dxc6 ep

The defender has too many threats to deal with: White's passed pawn at c6, White's threat to bring his Knight to d5, and a stifled Bishop outnumbered on the Queenside, to mention 3.

Black resigned