Thinking again...

Despite my initial skepticism about Black's chances in the line Yury Bukayev recently asked me about, 1.e4 e5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.Bc4 h6 4.Nf3 Nd4 (a line I once dismissively suggested transposed to "the Improved Blackburne Shilling Jerome Gambit" after 5.Bxf7+), further examination indicates that things can get pretty tricky for White, if he does not respond properly.

Certainly White can simply 5.0-0 and have the better game (because of his lead in development), but the question arises: does the addition of Nb1-c3 for the first player "detoxify" the dangerous-in-the-original-Blackburne-Shilling-Gambit move 5.Nxe5? Of course, Black will respond with 5...Qg5.

Here, as with the original BSG, the greedy 6.Nxf7 leads to all sorts of complications and inevitable pain for White: 6...Qxg2 7.Rf1 d6 and Black's threat of ...Bg4 means that the first player doesn't even have time to win the Rook, safely (check out 8.Nxh8 Bg4 9.f3 Be7! 10.Ng6 Bxf3 11.Nxe7 Bxd1 12.Nf5 Nxf5 13.Rxf5 Bxc2 as one example, where White does not get enough for his Queen). 

He can carry on with 8.Nd5 Bg4 9.Ne3 Bxd1 10.Nxg2 Bh5 11.Ne3 Bxf7 12.Bxf7+ Kxf7 where White has a pawn for his sacrificed piece. Clearly it is not a line to go into voluntarily, if there are alternatives!

There is also the defensive-minded 6.Ng4, which can lead to either messy or kempt positions where White has two pawns for his piece: 6...d5 7.Nxd5 Qxg4 8.0-0 (or the messy 8.Nxc7+ Kd8 9.Nxa8 Nxc2+ 10.Kf1 Nxa1 11.Bxf7 Kc8 when both a-Knights are likely to eventually expire) Qxd1 9.Rxd1 Bd6 10.Ne3 Be6.

My preference, until recently, has been 6.Bxf7+, since after 6...Kd8 White can play 7.Ng4 and answer 7...d5 with 8.Ne3, covering the White g-pawn.

Of course, not everyone will agree with me. In fact, in my next post I will share a very educational email from Yury, taking this discussion in a new direction!