Jerome Gambit: A Slip on Defense

We see this again and again: Make a slip on attack and you lose the attack; make a slip on defense and  you lose the game.

This time we see mbokhari, with 877 games in The Database, deliver the bad news.

mbokhari - ayaz44jamali

10 0 blitz, lichess.org, 2022.

1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Nc6 3.Nf3 Nd4 

The Blackburne Shilling Gambit.

4.Bxf7+ 

The Blackburne Shilling Jerome Gambit.

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Ke8 6.c3 Nc6 

This retreat shows up in 147 games in The Database. White scores 60%. This can be compared with the more solid 6...Ne6, which appears in 272 games, with White scoring 51%.

I was shocked by Stockfish 15's 3rd-best suggestion of 6...Nc2?!. A check with The Database shows that it actually has been played 3 times by Fazmeister, about a decade ago on FICS. He won 1 of those games.

7.Qh5+ 

This straight agression is a bit better than 7.Nxc6 e.g. 7...dxc6 8.d4 c5?! 9.d5 (9.Qh5+!?) 9...c6 10.Qh5+ g6 11.Qe5+ Ne7? (11...Kf7 12.Qxh8 h6 13.Qe5 = ) 12.Qxh8 cxd5 13.Bh6 dxe4 14.Qxf8+ Kd7 15.Qxd8+ Kxd8 16.Bg5 Bf5 17.Nd2 Kd7 18.Bxe7 Kxe7 19.O-O-O Rd8 20.Nc4 Rxd1+ 21.Rxd1 b6 22.Ne3 h6 23.Nxf5+ gxf5 24.Rd5 h5 25.Rxf5 a6 26.Rxh5 b5 27.Rxc5 b4 28.cxb4 a5 29.bxa5 e3 30.fxe3 Ke6 31.e4 Kf6 32.Rd5 Kg6 33.a6 Kf7 34.a7 Ke6 35.a8=Q Kf7 36.Qb7+ Kg6 37.Qc6+ Kf7 38.Rd7+ Ke8 39.Qc8 checkmate, mbokhari - Manikanth20, lichess.org, 2021. 

7...Ke7  

Blitz. It happens.

mbokhari has also seen 7...g6 in several games 

8.Nxg6 Nf6 (8...hxg6 9.Qxh8 Qg5 (9...Nf6 10.d3 d6 11.Bg5 Qd7 Black resigned, mbokhari - AlisheR7292, lichess.org,  2021; 9...Nge7 10.d4 d6 11.Bg5 b6 12.Bh6 Ba6 13.Qxf8+ Kd7 14.Qxd8+ Rxd8 15.Nd2 Kc8 16.Be3 Kb8 17.c4 Nb4 18.O-O Nc2 19.Rac1 Nxe3 20.fxe3 c5 21.d5 g5 22. Rf7 Ng6 23.g3 Rf8 24.Rxf8+ Nxf8 25.Rf1 Ng6 26.b3 b5 27.Rf6 Ne5 28.Rxd6 Bb7 29.cxb5 g4 30.a4 Nf3+ 31.Nxf3 gxf3 32.Kf2 Kc7 33.Rf6 a5 34.Kxf3 Kd7 35.h4 Bc8 36.g4 Ke7 37.Rc6 Bd7 38.Rxc5 Kf6 39.Kf4 Kg6 40.e5 Kh6 41.e6 Be8 42.d6 Bg6 43.d7 Bc2 44.d8=Q Bxb3 45.h5 Black resigned, mbokhari - Atuobi_89, lichess.org, 2020; 9... Qe7 10.Qxg8 Qxe4+ 11.Kd1 Qxg2 12.Re1+ Ne7 13.d3 Qf3+ 14.Kc2 Qxf2+ 15.Bd2 d6 16.Qxg6+ Qf7 17.Qxf7+ Kxf7 18.c4 d5 19.Nc3 dxc4 20.dxc4 Bf5+ 21.Kc1 a6 22.b3 b5 23.Rf1 bxc4 24.bxc4 Rb8 25.Nd5 Nxd5 26.cxd5 Kf6 27.Bc3+ Kg5 28.Rh1 Be4 29.Rg1+ Kh4 30.Bf6+ Kh3 31.Be5 Bh6+ 32.Kd1 Bf3+ 33.Kc2 Be3 34.Rg3+ Kh4 35.Rxf3 Bg5 36.Bxc7 Rc8 37.d6 Kg4 38.Rc3 Bf6 39.Rc4+ Kf5 40.Rf1+ Ke6 41.d7 Kxd7 42.Rxf6 Rxc7 43.Rf7+ Black resigned, mbokhari - Mosa123zakhor, lichess.org, 2020) 10.O-O Nce7 11.d4 Qf6 12.Qxf6 Nxf6 13.e5 Nh7 14.Be3 d6 15.exd6 cxd6 16.Nd2 Bd7 17.Ne4 Nc6 18.a4 Kd8 19.Ng5 Kc7 20.Nxh7 Black resigned, mbokhari - Dr_OmarDawod, lichess.org, 2022) 9.Qh4 Rg8 10.Nxf8 Rxf8 (10...Qe7!?) 11.d3 Ne5 (11...Qe7?! 12.Bg5 Qf7 13.O-O d6 14.Nd2 Ne5 15.d4? Ng6 16.Qg3 Nh5 17.Qe3 Nhf4 18.Bxf4 Qxf4 19.Qxf4 Nxf4 20.Rfe1 Bd7 21.a4 Ke7 22.e5 d5 23.c4 c6 24.cxd5 cxd5 25.Nf3 Rg8 26.g3 Nd3 27.Re2 Bg4 28.Kg2 Raf8 29.Re3 Bxf3+ 30.Rxf3 Rxf3 31.Kxf3 Nxb2? (31...Rc8) 32.Rb1 Rf8+ 33.Kg2 Nd3 34.Rxb7+ Ke6 35.f4 a5 36.Rxh7 Rb8? (36...Nxf4+ 37.gxf4 Rxf4 = ) 37.Rh6+ Kf5 38.Kf3 Ne1+ 39.Ke2 Rb1? (39...Nc2) 40.Rf6+? (40.e6) 40...Ke4 41.e6 Nf3 42.e7 Rb2+ 43.Kf1 Rb1+? (43...Nxh2+) 44.Ke2 Rb2+ 45.Kd1? (45.Kf1) 45...Rd2+? (45...Kd3 46.Rc6 Rf2 47.Kc1 Re2 48.Rc7 Nxh2) 46.Kc1 Kd3 47.e8=Q Rc2+ 48.Kb1 Nd2+ 49.Ka1 Nb3+ 50.Kb1 Nd2+ 51.Ka1 Nb3+ 52.Kb1 Nd2+ Drawn, mbokhari - Ibrahim71, lichess.org, 2022) 12.O-O Nxd3?! 13.Bg5 Nxb2? (13...Qe7) 14.e5 h6 15.Bxf6 Rxf6 16.Qxf6 Qxf6 17.exf6 Kf7 18.Nd2 d6 19.Ne4 Bf5 20.f3 d5 21.g4?! (21.Rab1) 21...dxe4 22.gxf5 exf3? (22...e3) 23.Rxf3 Kxf6 24.Rb1 Nc4 25.Rxb7 c6 26.Rh7 Rg8+ 27.Kf2 Ne5 28.Rxh6+ Kg7 29.Rg3+ Kf7 30.Rxg8 Kxg8 31.Re6 Ng4+ 32.Kg3 Nxh2 Black resigned, mbokhari - Haykonarek123, lichess.org, 2022

8.Qf7+ Kd6 9.Nc4+ Kc5 10.Qd5 checkmate