I have pointed out that what an attacker risks with a mis-step is the loss of his attack, while what a defender risks with a mis-step is the loss of his King.
This rule of thumb, however, is upended in a heavily sacrificial opening like the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+). If the attacker invests a large amount of material, then a mis-step could end his attack and leave him short-handed to continue the game.
The following blitz game shows how this can happen.
superslide - NIP94
5 0 blitz, lichess.org, 2022
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+
4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ke6
7.Qf5+ Kd6 8.f4 Qh4+ 9.Kd1
Black's Queen check is part of a dangerous counter attack.
White seems concerned that 9.g3 would be met by 9...Nf3+ and so moves his King, instead. The choice, however, causes more problems.
White scored 20% in the 5 games with this move in The Database. See perrypawnpusher - Drewbear, Jerome Gambit thematic tournament, ChessWorld.net, 2008 (0-1, 10) for an example.
9...Qg4+
This will force the exchange of Queens, and leave White with two pawns for two sacrificed pieces - and his attack runs out of gas.
10.Qxg4 Nxg4 11.Rf1 Nxh2 12.Rh1 Ng4
13.Rf1 Nf2+ 14.Rxf2 Bxf2 15.Ke2 White resigned
The position has settled down. Black's advantage is apparent.
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