Toto, too

In "A Push for 'a Nudge' " I looked at an alternative in the Jerome Gambit that involved giving the Black King a "nudge" before capturing material: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ng6

and now White plays 7.Qd5+ before the capture 8.Qxc5, instead of 7.Qxc5 directly.

I decided to look in my database for the "nudge" in games of a "junior partner" of the Jerome Gambit, the Semi-Italian Opening. After 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 h6 4.0-0 Bc4 5.Bxf7+ Kxf7 6.Nxe5+ Nxe5 7.Qh5+ Ng3

four games continued 8.Qd5+ (scoring 87.5%) while two games continued 8.Qxc5 (scoring 75%). Of course, all four "nudge" games were played by me, so we again have the warnings that go along with statistics...

After 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 h6 4.Nc3 Bc5 5.Bxf7+ Kxf7 6.Nxe5+ Nxe5 7.Qh5+ Ng6

all three games continued with the direct capture, 8.Qxc5 (scoring 67%).

For the record, Rybka 3 slightly prefers the nudge in each case.

A Push for "a Nudge"

It's a small thing, but in one particular line of the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) I continue to play a move that I call "a nudge," despite its relative unpopularity.

After 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ng6 we reach the following position:

There are 268 games in my database that have reached this position. Sixty of them – 22% – continued with 7.Qd5+, nudging the King, followed by 8.Qxc5. The rest continued with the straight-forward 7.Qxc5.

I suppose it could all be a matter of style. On the other hand, while the popular 7.Qxc5 scored 45% in the database games, "my" unpopular 7.Qd5+ has scored 78%. Of course, statistics are weird things...

For the record, Rybka 3 slightly prefers the nudge to the direct capture. On the other hand, in either of the lines, Rybka 3 recommends ...Qe7 to meet the capture of the Bishop – something that shows up in only 4% of the database games.