The following game shows the benefit of going further off the beaten path in an already unusual opening. Bill Wall varies from previous experience, and continues to find success. The notes suggest that Black could have found chances by varying his play, too. The game ends with a bit of psychological mind-reading.
Wall, Bill - NN
lichess.org, 2016
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+
4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.d4 Bd6
This strategy is not unusual and seems reasonable, although it does have a tactical flaw. The Database shows that it has been faced by Jerome Gambit regulars such as chessmanjeff, HauntedKnight, frizerkaHR, jfhumphrey, stretto, Teterow and yorgos.
Oh, and of course, Bill Wall.
7.dxe5 Bxe5
Better is 7...Bb4+ (no game examples in The Database), 7...Bf8 (no game examples in The Database) or 7...Be7 (20 game examples in The Database, White scores 45%); each moving the Bishop out of danger of a Queen check/fork.
8.Qh5+
Bill tries something new, deviating from his previous 8.Qd5+:
Ke8 (8...Kf6 9.f4 c6 [9...Bd6 10.Qg5+ Kf7 11.Qxd8 Black resigned, Wall,B - NN, lichess.org, 2016] 10.Qxe5+ Kf7 11.O-O Qe7 12.Nc3 d6 13.Qh5+ g6 14.Qe2 Nf6 15.e5 Nd5 16.Nxd5 cxd5 17.Qb5 dxe5 18.fxe5+ Kg7 19.Qxd5 Re8 20.c3 Qxe5 21.Qf7+ Kh8 22.Bg5 Qxg5 23.Qxe8+ Kg7 24.Qf8 checkmate, Wall,B - Neilson,C, Melbourne, FL 2016; or 8...Kf8 9.Qxe5 d6 [9...Qe7 10.Qf4+ Nf6 11.Nc3 d6 12.O-O Qe5 13.Qxe5 dxe5 14.f4 exf4 15.Bxf4 Ne8 16.Bd6+ Kg8 17.Rf8 checkmate, Wall,B - Guest539122, PlayChess.com, 2015] 10.Qd4 [10.Qb5 Nf6 11.Nc3 c6 12.Qd3 Be6 13.Bg5 h6 14.Bh4 g5 15.Bg3 Ke7 16.O-O-O Ne8 17.f4 g4 18.Bh4+ Nf6 19.e5 dxe5 20.Qg6 Qf8 21.fxe5 Black resigned, Wall,B - NN, lichess.org, 2016] 10...Nf6 11.O-O c5 12.Qd3 Bd7 13.Bf4 a6 14.Bxd6+ Kf7 15.e5 Bb5 16.c4 Black resigned, Wall,B - Guest5856753, PlayChess.com, 2016) 9.Qxe5+ Qe7 10.Qh5+ g6 11.Qe2 Nf6 12.Nc3 d5 13.Bg5 Qe5 14.f4 Qd4 15.Bxf6 Qxf6 16.O-O-O Qxf4+ 17.Kb1 dxe4 18.Nxe4 Bf5 19.Ng5+ Kf8 20.Ne6+ Kf7 21.Nxf4 Black resigned, Wall,B - NN, lichess.org, 2016
8...g6
An interesting alternative is 8...Ke6 9.Qf5+ Kd6 10.Na3!?, which may have seemed riskier to Black, but which would put White more on his own resources. There are two examples of the line in The Database: 10...Qf6 (10... Bf6 11.Nc4+ Ke7 12.Bf4 d6 13.Qb5 Qe8 14.O-O-O Qxb5 15.b3 Be6 16.Ne3 Qb4 17.g4 Qa3+ 18.Kd2 g5 19.Bg3 h5 20.h4 gxh4 21.Bxh4 hxg4 22.Bxf6+ Nxf6 23.Rxh8 Rxh8 24.f4 gxf3 25.Rf1 Nxe4+ 26.Kd3 Ng5 27.c4 Qxa2 28.Re1 Qxb3+ 29.Kd2 Ne4+ 30.Kc1 Qc3+ 31.Nc2 Nf2 32.Kb1 Kf6 33.Rf1 Rh1 34.Rxh1 Nxh1 White resigned, HauntedKnight - VSRajput, FICS, 2015) 11.Nc4+ Ke7 12.Qxe5+ Qxe5 13.Nxe5 d6 14.Bg5+ Ke6 15.Nc4 b5 16.Ne3 h6 17.Bh4 g5 18.Bg3 Nf6 19.f3 b4 20.b3 Ba6 21.O-O-O Bb5 22.h4 Nh5 23.Be1 Nf4 24.hxg5 hxg5 25.Rxh8 Rxh8 26.Bxb4 Rh2 27.Rg1 Ne2+ 28.Kd2 Nxg1 29.Bc3 Nxf3+ 30.Kc1 Rh1+ 31.Kb2 Nh4 32.g3 Ng6 33.Nd5 c6 34.Ne3 Rh3 35.Nf5 Ne5 36.a4 Be2 37.Nd4+ Kd7 38.Nxe2 Rh2 39.Nd4 c5 40.Nf5 Nd3+ 41.Ka3 Nb4 42.Bxb4 cxb4+ 43.Kxb4 Rxc2 44.Nd4 Rg2 45.e5 dxe5 46.Nf3 Rxg3 47.Nxe5+ Ke6 48.Nc4 Rg4 White forfeited on time, noatun - Papaflesas, blitz, FICS, 2008
9.Qxe5 Nf6 10.Bg5
Putting pressure on the Knight at f6, a regular strategy for White in the Jerome Gambit.
10...Re8 11.Qf4
White could have played the prosaic exchanging 11.Bxf6+ Qxf6 12.Qxf6+ Kxf6 13.Nc3 with a pawn advantage. I think he realized that his opponent saw the White e-pawn as pinned by the Black Rook to the White King, and played for the win of a piece.
11...b6 12.e5 Black resigned
The threat by White's advanced pawn is real. One possibility: 12...d6 13.Bxf6 dxe5 14.Bxe5+. It is worth taking time to explore other lines, too.
I just received another selection of games from Bill Wall.
The following game of his will be of interest to those who play the Jerome Gambit and who want to be aware of every finish-quickly variation.
Wall, Bill - NN
lichess.org, 2016
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+
4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Ke6
This move follows the "psychology" of "If you want me to take the Knight, then I won't take the Knight", but it is simply not a good move. It is relatively rare: The Database has 24 games, with White scoring 65%.
Still, it is worth knowing the followup, as this "defense" has shown up in the games of Jerome Gambit regulars: blackburne, MrJoker, Petasluk, stretto, UNPREDICTABLE, and ZahariSokolov. I have faced it a couple of times and come away with wins.
In fact, I have posted a disproportionate number of times on the line - although, in fairness, they were all interesting posts, going back to "You, too, can add to Jerome Gambit theory" and including "A Strange, But Intriguing Path, Parts 1, 2, & 3" and "Still Strange, Still Intriguing Parts 1, 2, 3 & 4." The most recent post on the line is "We Know What We're Doing (Sort of)".
6.Qg4+
This is the move for White.
6...Kxe5 7.d4+ Kxd4
Wow. And that's that, folks...
Best, instead, was 7...Bxd4 8.Bf4+ Kf6 9.Bg5+ Kf7 10.Bxd8 and although Black has 3 pieces for his Queen, it is not enough.
8.Be3+ Kc4 9.Qe2+ Kb4 10.Bd2+ Ka4 11.b3 checkmate
If SeinfeldFan91 wins the current RedHotPawn.com Jerome Gambit tournament, it will be in part due to his second round win over his main rival for top honors.
SeinfeldFan91 - procyk
Giuoco Piano Jerome Gambit Tournament
RedHotPawn.com, 2016
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+
4...Kxf7 5.c3 h6
White chooses a "modern" Jerome Gambit variation, playing something other than the "classical" 5.Nxe5+.
Black's defensive pawn move has risks as well as benefits.
6.b4 Bd6
The text is maybe a little bit better than 6...Bb6. Two examples: 7.b5 Na5 (7...Qf6 8.bxc6 dxc6 9.d4 exd4 10.cxd4 Bg4 11.Qb3+ Ke8 12.Nbd2 Rd8 13.O-O Bxd4 14.Nxd4 Qxd4 15.Rb1 b5 16.Qg3 Nf6 17.h3 Be6 18.Nf3 Qxe4 19.Qxg7 Rf8 20.Re1 Qd5 21.Bxh6 Rf7 22.Qg6 Rdd7 23.Ng5 Kd8 24.Rxe6 Black resigned, Wall,B - Albertasss, Chess.com, 2010) 8.Nxe5+ Ke6 9.Qh5 Qf6 10.d4 d6 11.Ng6 Rh7 12.Qd5+ Kd7 13.Ne5+ Ke7 14.Qxg8 dxe5 15.Ba3+ Kd7 16.Qxh7 exd4 17.O-O dxc3 18.e5 Qf7 19. e6+ Qxe6 20.Qxg7+ Ke8 21.Qf8+ Kd7 22.Rd1+ Black resigned, Wall,B - Guest2359830, PlayChess.com, 2015.
7.b5
Another idea: 7.Qb3+ Kf8 8.d3 Nf6 9.O-O Qe7 10.Be3 Qe6 11.Qc2 b6 12.Nbd2 Bb7 13.d4 exd4 14.Nxd4 Nxd4 15.Bxd4 Qxe4 16.Nxe4 Nxe4 17.Qd3 Re8 18.f3 Ng5 19.Rae1 Rxe1 20.Rxe1 Be7 21.Qf5+ Ke8 22.Bxg7 Rg8 23.Qf6 Kd8 24.Qxe7+ Kc8 25.Bf6 Ne6 26.Rxe6 dxe6 27.Qxe6+ Kb8 28.Qxg8+ Bc8 29.Qd8 Kb7 Black resigned, KingAsh - Nineyes, FICS, 2015.
7...Na5 8.d4 Qf6
Overlooking a tactic based on Black's King being on f7.
9.dxe5 Qe6
Now he sees it: if 9...Bxe5 then 10.Qd5+ will win the Bishop. As it is, White wins back the piece anyhow.
10.exd6 Qxe4+ 11.Be3 Nc4
Black gets some pressure, but it is not enough.
12.Nbd2 Nxd2 13.Qxd2 Nf6 14.dxc7 Ng4 15.O-O Re8
It is useful to point out Black's light-squared Bishop, still on its home square, blocking the Queenside Rook.
16.Bd4 d6 17.Rfe1 Qd5 18.Qf4+ Bf5 19.c4 g5 20. Qxg4 Bxg4 21.
cxd5 Black resigned
