I have always found the Italian Four Knights Jerome Gambit to be one of the more difficult variations in the Jerome. This is probably due to the additional development which, among other things, restricts my Queen from making wild advances.
Even Bill Wall has experienced relative "difficulty", scoring only 91% in his games with the line. The following game is quite a rarity. Wall, Bill - Guest343560 PlayChess.com, 2013
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Nc3 Bc5 5.Bxf7+
Black is developing, while White struggles to get his pieces coordinated. An attack on White's King combined with an attack on his Queen brings the game to a quick conclusion. 13.a3 Ng4 14.g3 Nxh2 15.Kxh2 b5 White resigned
Is this strange enough for you? 9...g6 10.Qxh7 White would do better to capture Black's Bishop at c5 rather than protect his Knight at h8. Bad things now happen. 10...Qc2+ 11.Ke1 Qxb1+ 12.Ke2 Qc2+ 13.Ke1 Bb4+ 14.Bd2 Qxd2 checkmate
I have been enjoying sharing with Readers the new pile of Bill Wall games that I have recently uncovered. There are still a good number to present. To add to the fun, I just received a baker's dozen of games from Philidor1792 - Jerome Gambits and Jerome-inspired play. On the internet chess circuit, as expected, Rebecca_Wiebe has won the Chess.com"Italian Game" tournament with an overwhelming score of 19-0-3. I was pleased to score 2 of those draws against her. I finished in 4th place (out of 35) with 10-6-2. Meanwhile, the tumult continues in the Chess.com "Giuoco Piano" tournament, and when the smoke clears I may yet find myself on the top of my section and advance to the next round - by a hair's breadth. One more game remains to be completed in the first round of another "Italian Game" tournament at Chess.com. I am the last of three from my section to move on to the second round, when it begins.
Of such little things, it seems, victories are made. In the following game the players quickly reach a Queenless middle game, with Black holding the extra piece while White has two extra pawns. Both have to decide their strategies - but, in the meantime, a small tactical "pothole" crashes the second player in short order. Wall, Bill - Guest2651667 PlayChess.com, 2015 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+
Bill Wall, like Philidor 1792 (to name another in the Jerome Gambit Gemeinde) is comfortable playing without Her Majesty. 11.Nc3 Other games in The Database have seen 11.h3, 11.c3, 11.O-O, and 11.Be3. 11...a6 12.f3 Bill is not in a hurry - yet. He can afford to see what else his opponent has on his mind. 12...Be6 13.Bg3 g5 14.e5
Breaking in the center makes sense now that Black has further weakened his King with another pawn move (11...a6, 13...g5). The move also contains a trap that the second player immediately falls into. 14...dxe5 Better was 14...Nd5. 15.Bxe5 Kf7 It all looks so routine and uneventful, but 15...Be7 was the proper defense. White could then snatch a pawn with 16.Ne4 (i.e. 16...Kg7 17.Nxg5) but Black might still have a small edge. Now a simple combination decides. 16.Bxf6 Kxf6 17.Ne4+ Black resigned
After 18.Nxc5 White will have recovered his sacrificed piece and be a couple of pawns up; not something Black wanted to continue against.