The Jaw Drop Variation

 

Recently a Reader shared a game that he said was inspired by the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+). It left me shocked. My jaw dropped.

For a Jerome Gambit devotee, that was something.

The game started out 

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 d6 4.Bxf7+

If someone thought that he was going to defend a quiet spin-off from the Philidor Defense - 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.Bc4 Nc6 - he was quite surprised. He got Jeromed.

Clearly White had joined the imaginary club of Chess Players Living Dangerously. Welcome!

This was a line that I was totally unfamiliar with. It was time to explore. Checking my databases, I turned up a couple of game examples, that's it.

Amazing.

(Before you jump all over me and say It's not a strong move, of course it doesn't show up in databases! let me remind you that The Database, full of Jerome and Jerome-ish games - replete with not-strong-moves - has almost 84,000 entries.)

Still searching, I went to the online website where the game was played, lichess.org, and I found 89,623 (!) games with this opening. On top of it, White scored 46% wins, 51% losses, and 3% draws.

(By comparison, in 566,673 games at lichess.org, the Jerome Gambit scores 48% wins, 49% losses, and 3% draws.) 

The game continued

4...Kxf7 5.Ng5+ 

Wow.

An enemy that is surprised is already half defeated - German proverb

5...Qxg5 6.d4  

At this point I had a flashback to the Jerome Gambit, particularly the line 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Ng5+, which over a decade ago prompted a "Public Service Announcement" and only a couple of years ago, the reflection

I think I betray my skepticism of this move in calling it the "face palm variation". See "Jerome Gambit: The Face Palm Variation" and "Jerome Gambit: Return of the Face Palm Variation".

Jaw Drop, meet Face Palm.

Back to the game.

6...Nxd4 

Qui audet adipiscitur

Ο Τολμών Νικά

O tolmón niká

Qui ose gagne

Chi osa vince

Quem ousa vence

Wer wagt, gewinnt

Who dares, wins!

7.Bxg5 h6 

Black resigned

Black has two pieces for his Queen. It is not enough.

But clearly the second player had enough.