i've used to play the jerome sometimes in blitz or with friends, and it is fun to play. i'd say if you want to play something wacky against an open defense though, the halloween attack is just as fun, stronger, and you'll see 3...Nf6 trying to get there more often than you'll see 3...Bc5 trying to play the jerome.

I'm amused Lev can criticise the Jerome given half of the stuff he plays (and claims to be good...)!

Yes, the Jerome is crap. No-one here is claiming any different. It's still fun to analyse, though.

Gambit wrote on 02/05/06 at 20:51:47:


Gosh! I don't think I'd want to hold my breath waiting for THAT to happen!

The Jerome Gambit was analyzed and played as an unorthodox opening 125 years ago. Today it exists as an historical oddity - a platypus of an opening (have you seen many of them around lately, either?). It may well be playable in modern times among amateurs in situations where - as 125 years ago - the much stronger one might alternately have offered odds of a Rook or a Knight. Too, some very odd things are played in blitz on the Internet these days...

I play lots of unorthodox openings,  even invented  quite a few myself, but even I would not play the Jerome Gambit. It's one thing playing the Muzio Gambit in the King's Gambit, where you give up two pieces for an enduring attack on the Black King. It is another thing where you do not have anything for two pieces.

Okay, maybe you can get something for one pieces -- at best.  But there is still the matter of the extra piece! 

The Jerome Gambit... I will play it when I see some good improvements for White, and not before.

I know it feels like a  gazillion years now that I've been promising that my Jerome Gambit article will appear in Stefan Bucker's quarterly chess magazine "Kaissiber", but I can finally say with some conviction that Part I will be in the December 2005 issue, and Part II will be in the March 2006 issue.

Part I will be mostly the historical information; Part II will be the analysis. And believe me, Mr. Bucker and friends have been  working hard  to try to make "Jerome's Double Gambit" work... In all fairness, I have to admit this is probably one patient that even those specialists can't revive.

Anyhow, now that the USCF / Chess Cafe is selling Kaissiber, everyone who loves serious, scholarly looks at unorthodox openings has no excuse for not checking that magazine out, and getting back issues while they're still available. Or, take a peak at www.kaissiber.com. Or both.

Just remember, next issue spills the beans on the opening Ray Keene long ago opined should NEVER be played.

Quote:


Would love to see those Jeromes when they appear. Choose the right opponent and the right moment and you will have a great time!

Thanks for the kind words about the articles in the Myers Openings Bulletin. FYI, a hunk of my fiction and book reviews can be found online at Chessville. The internet-based Unorthodox Openings Newsletter has some articles of mine, as well - I think another issue will be coming out soon.

I started looking into the Jerome Gambit about 4 years ago. I remembered it from an article in the Ohio State University weekly chess newsletter "Phalanx,"  from the 1960s or 1970s, but I probably got serious after reading about the opening in one of Eric Schiller's books, most likely Unorthodox Chess Openings.  

The visitors to the old ChessHistory site were incredibly helpful to me in my search for information about the Jerome Gambit. I posted some of my early research there and received in return great information and clues to follow up. Don't know how easy it is to get there any more since the recent ChessHistory re-design.

Good luck!

Rick

Quote:


Glad you asked!

Stefan Bucker has just recently returned to publishing his Kaissiber magazine -- the current issue has a killer article on the Halloween Gambit: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Nxe5!?

He plans a September 2005 issue and a December 2005 issue, and has said that my Jerome Gambit article will be in either one or the other. I certainly hope so!!

In the meantime, I've played a couple more Jerome Gambits ( what was I thinking?? ) at blitz and "Jeromed" my response to a Blackburne Shilling Gambit. I share them with the request that you a) not laugh too loud and b) be respectful of my opponents, who could hardly have expected to face such offal, were taken by surprise, and would no doubt demolish me if we were ever to meet again!

perrypawnpusher - PREMK
FICS rated blitz game 6 12, 2005
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ke6 7.Qf5+ Kd6 8.f4 Qf6 9.fxe5+ Qxe5 10.Qf3 Nf6 11.d3 Ke7 12.Nc3 Bb4 13.0-0 Rf8 14.Nd5+ Black resigns 1-0

perrypawnpusher - Alternative
FICS rated blitz game 6 16 FICS, 2005
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ g6 7.Qxe5 Nf6 8.Qxc5 d6 9.Qe3 Re8 10.d3 Kg7 11.0-0 d5 12.Qh6+ Kg8 13.exd5 Nxd5 14.Nc3 Nxc3 15.bxc3 Qf6 16.Bd2 Qg7 17.Rae1 Rxe1 18.Rxe1 Qxh6 19.Bxh6 Bf5 20.Re7 Rc8 21.Bf4 Kf8 22.Rxc7 Rxc7 23.Bxc7 Ke7 24.Kf1 Kd7 25.Be5 Kc6 26.Bd4 a6 27.c4 b5 28.cxb5+ axb5 29.a3 Be6 30.Ke2 Bd5 31.g3 Ba2 32.c3 Kd5 33.Ke3 Bb1 34.Bg7 Ba2 35.f4 Bb1 36.h3 Bc2 37.g4 Ke6 38.Ke4 Kf7 39.Bd4 h6 40.f5 g5 41.Kf3 Bxd3 42.Kg3 Be2 43.h4 Bd1 44.hxg5 hxg5 45.Be3 Kf6 46.Bb6 Ke5  47.Bd8 Ke4 48.Bxg5 Kd3 49.Bf6 Kc4 50.g5 Kb3 51.g6 Bh5 52.Kf4 Kxa3  53.Kg5 Bd1 54.Kh6 Bb3 55.Kg7 b4 56.cxb4 Kxb4 57.Kf8 Kc5 58.Be7+ Kd5 59.f6 Ke5 60.g7 Kf5 61.g8Q Bxg8 62.Kxg8 Kg6 63.f7 Black resigns 1-0

perrypawnpusher - patitolo
FICS rated blitz game 6 12, 2005
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nd4 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Ke8 6.Qh5+ g6 7.Nxg6 Nf6 8.Qe5+ Qe7 9.Nxe7 Bxe7 10.Qxd4 d6 11.Nc3 Be6 12.Nd5 c5 13.Nxf6+ Bxf6 14.Qxf6 Rf8 15.Qxe6+ Kd8 16.Qxd6+ Ke8 17.d3 Rd8 18.Qe6# Black checkmated 1-0

I'm still interested in seeing anyone's Jerome Gambit games, no matter how good, bad or ugly. I'm already working on a follow-up article tentatively titled "The Modern Jerome Gambit."

Rick Kennedy

WARNING: The Jerome Gambit is quite disreputable and has quite a few refutations. Its use should be restricted to "fun" games or as a manner of offering "odds" to weaker opponents. The author is not responsible for any disasters that might come from using the Jerome Gambit (although he remains interested in learning about and staring at the wreckage).

Hows it coming on your research of the Jerome gambit?