Given a graph G and an integer k, two players alternatively color the edges of G using k colors so that adjacent edges get different colors. The game chromatic index g(G) is the minimum k for which the first player has a strategy that ensures that all edges of G get colored. The trivial bounds are (G)  g(G)  2(G) - 1, where (G) denotes the maximal degree of G. Lam, Shiu, and Xu and, independently, Bartnicki and Grytczuk asked whether there is a constant C such that g(G)  (G) + C for every graph G. We show that the answer is in the negative by constructing graphs 							
						
							
					 															
					Andrew Beveridge, Tom Bohman, Alan M. Frieze, Oleg