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Jerome Gambit

White throws a bishop and then a knight at Black's king. It has a reputation as one of the worst openings ever, and it is glorious fun.

Viral opening · as White

How it goes

  1. 1.e4 · White starts with the king's pawn.
  2. 1...e5 · Black answers in kind.
  3. 2.Nf3 · The knight comes out and attacks e5.
  4. 2...Nc6 · Black guards the pawn with the knight.
  5. 3.Bc4 · The Italian bishop takes aim at f7.
  6. 3...Bc5 · Black mirrors White with the bishop on its best diagonal.
  7. 4.Bxf7+? · The Jerome Gambit! The bishop is thrown away on f7 with check.
  8. 4...Kxf7 · Black takes. White is already a piece down.
  9. 5.Nxe5+?! · And a second piece goes: the knight takes the pawn on e5 with check.
  10. 5...Nxe5 · Black takes again. White has given two pieces for two pawns.
  11. 6.d4 · The fork trick: the pawn attacks the knight on e5 and the bishop on c5 at once.
  12. 6...Bxd4 · Black takes the pawn with the bishop, which now stands in front of White's queen.
  13. 7.Qxd4 · White wins the bishop back but is still a knight down for one pawn. A loose black king is all White has.

How to beat it

  1. 7...d6! · Keep it simple: the pawn guards the knight on e5 and opens the way for the bishop on c8.
  2. 8.O-O · White castles and hopes the f-file will bring an attack.
  3. 8...Nf6 · Black develops and gets ready to tuck the king away. A knight up for one pawn, and calm.

The story

The Jerome Gambit goes back to 1874 and an American amateur, Alonzo Wheeler Jerome, a Civil War veteran who later farmed hemp and who was proud enough of his idea to publish his analysis and games. The idea is wonderfully reckless: sacrifice the bishop on f7 with check, then the knight on e5 with check, and drag Black's king into the middle of the board.

Serious players wrote it off long ago as completely unsound, and it has been called the worst chess opening ever. That reputation is exactly what keeps it alive. One devoted fan has written thousands of blog posts about it, and it makes a fun blitz opening: a chance to see whether anyone can be mated by an opening this bad. Sometimes they can.

Objectively it is just lost. White gets two pawns and a wandering black king for two pieces, and after the d4 fork wins one piece back for the d-pawn, Black is still a knight up for one pawn. Stay calm, give the king a safe home, and the extra piece will win the game.

Sources: ChessBase: Jon Speelman's Agony Column #24 (the Jerome Gambit)

Verdict

Unsound · a piece down for one pawn

Gambit · Meme

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Opening names and lines: Lichess chess-openings (CC0) · Not affiliated with Lichess.