Jerome Gambit: You Can't Always Tell

Pushing a Rook pawn can be wise or unwise; you can't always tell. A lot depends upon the position. A quick look will not always let you know. You might just reject such a move, on principle, only to learn later that it was best. 

Wall, Bill - Szachowski
playok.com, 2017

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

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.d4 Nf6

7.dxe5 Bxf2+

I referred to this move as "interesting" in a previous post.

An alternative is the straightforward 7...Nxe4 8.Qd5+ Kf8 (8...Ke8 9.Qxe4 Bxf2+ 10.Kxf2 Rf8+ 11.Kg1 d5 12.exd6+ Kd7 13.Nc3 Qf6 14.Bf4 g5 15.Rd1 cxd6 16.Rxd6+ Black resigned, Wall,B - NN, lichess.org, 2016) 9.Qxe4 d6 10.O-O Be6 11.Nc3 a6 12.Be3 Bb6 13.Rad1 d5 14.Nxd5 Bxd5 15.Rxd5 Qe7 16.Bxb6 cxb6 17.Rfd1 Qe6 18.Rd6 Qxa2 19.Qf5+ Qf7 20.Rd8+ Ke7 21.Qd7 checkmate, Wall,B - TenAndOnly10, lichess.org, 2016

Stockfish 8 prefers 7...Qe7.

8.Kxf2 Nxe4+ 9.Kg1 d5 10.Qf3+

On par with the earlier 10.Nc3 Nxc3 11.Qf3+ Ke8 12.Qxc3 Be6 13.Be3 c6 14.Rd1 Rf8 15.h3 Qh4 16.Rd4 Qg3 17.Rd3 Qg6 18.Kh2 Kd7 19.Qb4 b5 20.Qd6+ Black resigned, Wall,B - MyDrunkAccount, lichess.org, 2016.

10...Kg6 11.Nc3 Rf8 12.Qd3 Bf5 13.Nxd5 c6

Stockfish 8 suggests that Black would maintain a slight edge with 13...h6, which is not the kind of move one usually chooses against a gambit.

14.Nf4+ Kf7 15.Qc4+ Ke8 16.Be3 g5 17.Nh5 Bg6

The reinforcement arrives - just in time to face a forced checkmate.

18.Qe6+ Qe7 19.Ng7+ Kd8 20.Rd1+ Black resigned