Nobody expects the Jerome Gambit!

Apparently Joseph Henry Blackburne (1841-1924) did.

According to Mr. Blackburne's Games at Chess (1899) the British master demolished the Jerome Gambit (he referred to it as "the Kentucky opening") in this well-known miniature:

Amateur - Blackburne

London, "about 1880"

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ g6 7.Qxe5 d6 8.Qxh8 Qh4 9.0-0 Nf6 10.c3 Ng4 11.h3 Bxf2+ 12.Kh1 Bf5 13.Qxa8 Qxh3+ 14.gxh3 Bxe4 mate

It is interesting to note that Blackburne, writing at another time on another topic, in The Strand Magazine in December 1906 ("The Best Games Ever Played at Chess"), argued

Brilliancy in chess is a rarity. It is like the sparkling of a multi-faceted diamond, which can illume darkness and shine best under provocation. Electricians would say it is the bright spark that signalizes the overcoming of resistance. It is not a very common or ordinary experience. It would cease to be a wonder if it were. It would fail to command the great admiration usually bestowed on things of rarity... Brilliancy in actual play very often prevails in spite of a flaw – the dazzling effect, as it were, rendering the flaw invisible...