Jerome Gambit: Trod These Roads Before

In the following game, Black hopes to avoid the excitement of the full Jerome Gambit by avoiding capture of the second offered piece - until White quietly castles, when the second player cannot resist the bait.

Bill Wall has trod these roads before, as his play quickly shows.

Wall, Bill - Angouba

SparkChess, 2024

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Kf8 

Seen as early as Jerome - Brownson, Iowa, 1875, (1/2 - 1/2, 29).

6.O-O 

Bill has also played the straight-forward 6.Nxc6 dxc6 (or 6...bxc6  as in Wall,B - Guest709079, PlayChess.com 2017 [1-0, 30]) 7.d3 h6 8.O-O Nf6 9.Nd2 Bg4 10.Nf3 Qe7 11.e5 Nd5 12.d4 Bb6 13.c4 Nb4 14.a3 Na6 15.b4 Rd8 16.c5 Nxc5 17.bxc5 Bxc5 18.Bb2 Kg8 19.Qb3+ Kh7 20.Qc2+ g6 21.dxc5 Bxf3 22.gxf3 Rd5 23.a4 Rhd8 24.Rfd1 Rxc5 25.Qxc5 Qxc5 26.Rxd8 b5 27.Rd7+ Kg8 28.e6 bxa4 29.e7 Kf7 30.Re1 Qg5+ 31.Kh1 Black resigned, Wall,B - WMXW, FICS 2012; 

And 6.d4 Nxd4 7.Be3 as in Wall, B. - Guest757851, PlayChess.com, 2014 (1-0, 42) and Wall,B - Guest6399506, PlayChess.com 2015 (1-0, 24). 

6...Nxe5 

Returning to the main line.

Bill has also faced 6...Qf6 in Wall,B - NN, lichess.org, 2016 (1-0, 26) and Wall,B - Computer-level 6/chess.com 2017 (1-0, 44); and 6... d6 7.Nxc6 bxc6 in Wall,B - Anonymous, lichess.org, 2016 (1-0, 26) and Wall,B-Guest399227. PlayChess.com 2016 (1-0, 17). 

7.d4 

7...Bd6 

Logical, although a bit better was 7...Bxd4 8.Qxd4 as in Wall,B - Mazanbaku, lichess.org 2017 (1-0, 15) and Wall,B-Guest1442, ChessTempo.com 2017 (1-0, 21) 

8.dxe5 Bxe5 9.f4 Bd6 10.Nc3 Bc5+

11.Kh1 c6 12.Qd3 d6 

Black is careful, and this encourages White.

13.f5 Qe7 

14.Bf4 Nf6 15.Rae1 Ng4 16.Na4 Ne5 17.Bxe5 Qxe5 18.Nxc5 Qxc5 

The exchange of pieces has left White with an advantage in development that he quickly uses. Open lines will lead to the enemy King.

19.e5 dxe5  

It is true that 19...d5 would have been met by 20.f6, while the obsequeous 19...Qd5, hoping to exchange Queens would have been met by 20.Qg3.

20.Qd8+ Kf7 21.Qxh8 Black resigned

Black's King remains unsafe, and he is down the exchange. Also, it will take a couple moves to be able to develop his Bishop and Rook.