Jerome Gambit: Anti-Bill Wall Gambit, Just Fine

Responding to "Jerome Gambit: Pawns Lead the Way", Dan Middlemiss sent me a collection of Anti-Bill Wall Gambit games, featuring the unusual line 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ke6 7.f4 Bf2+

As I had mentioned in the post

The Anti-Bill Wall Gambit, [was] also seen in "Jerome Gambit: A Cautionary Tale" and "Jerome Gambit: Another Reason".

Along with his games - which boosted the number to 30 in The Database - he pointed out that after 8.Kxf2 Nc6 Black seems to do well. In fact, Black won 6 of 9 games.

That got me thinking.

The solution for White is hidden in a couple of those losses: 9.d4.

It is clear that the d-pawn can not be taken, e.g. 9.d4 Nxd4 10.Qd5+ followed by 11.Qxd4; although 9.d4 Nxd4 10.Rd1 is interesting as well. None of this has shown up in practice.

Black can focus on ejecting White's queen. So 9.d4 Nf6, although 10.d5+ Ke7 11.Qf3 can lead to a goofy rook sacrifice, 11...Nb4 12.e5 Nfxd5 13.c4 Nc2 14.cxd5 Nxa1 15.f5 and the menacing pawns + the queen give White a clear advantage.

So maybe 9.d4 g6 is the better idea to deal with White's Queen. Still, weirdness abounds: 10.d5+ Kf7 11.Qf3 Nce7 12.Rf1 d6 13.Kg1.

 

The two games I have with 9.d4 were answered 9...d5 (reasonable) and 9...Ke7 (likewise).

Stockfish 15 recommends meeting 9...d5 with 15: 10.Nc3 Nf6 11.exd5+ Kd6 12.Qg5 Ne7 13.Re1 b6 14.Bd2 Nfxd5 15.Qe5+ Kc6 16.Nxd5 Nxd5 17.Qe4 Ba6 18.c4 Bxc4 19.Rac1 Kb7 20.Rxc4 and White is a bit better.

Likewise, the computer recommends meeting 9...Ke7 with 10.d5 Nb4 11.Qd1 Kf7 12.a3 Na6 13.Rf1 d6 14.Kg1, again with a small plus for White. 

Given Stockfish's generally skeptical assessment of the Jerome Gambit, if it sees White as a little bit ahead, White is probably doing just fine.