Jerome Gambit: Wile E Coyote vs Roadrunner

The following Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) game reminds me of Wile E Coyote chasing the roadrunner so furiously that he overlooks the fact that he has just run off a cliff...

TePart0 - Metrogates

1 0 bullet, lichess.org, 2024

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ g6

 7.Qxe5 d6 

The sound Blackburne's defense, trading a Rook for an attack on either the enemy King or the enemy Queen.

8.Qxh8 Qh4 9.O-O 

It is a natural reflex to protect the King when an attack is looming. Still, the correct move - to obtain an advantage - is 9.d4.

As I mentioned in "*Traps and Zaps*" 15 1/2 years ago, 9.d4 is

An improvement suggested by Munoz and Munoz in the August 1885 Brooklyn Chess Chronicle, repeated by Fletcher in Gambits Accepted (1954) and Druke in the November 1987 Gambit Revue, to give some early citations. (Actually, the move is rarely mentioned, but see "A Closer Look (Part V)".)

9...Nf6 

Slam! 

The White Queen must do something about the upcoming move of Black's light square Bishop, uncovering an attack, e.g. 10.d3 (protecting the e-pawn) Bh3 and Black is winning.

10.Qd8 

The Queen finds the escape hatch.

Now White can draw after 10...Bh3 11.Qxc7+ Kf8 12.Qxb7 Qg4 (12...Bxg2 13.Qxa8+ Ne8 14.d4 Qg4 15.Bh6+ Ke7 16.Qb7+ Kd8 17.Qb8+ Ke7 18.Qb7+ Kd8 19.Qb8+ etc.) 13.Qxa8+ Kf7 14.Qb7+ Kf8 15.Qa8+ Kf7 16.Qb7+ etc. 

10...Ng4 

Whoa! Black is so excited about his overwhelming attack that he overlooks something crucial.

11.Qxh4

Ouch.

Black resigned

Jerome Gambit: Black Tries

Being surprised by the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) can lead the defender to create a defense that may - or may not - hold off the attack.

In the following game, Black tries, but it is not enough.

Matthew_Slater - lorenz_ricc

3 0 blitz, Chess.com, 2024

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ g6 

7.Qxe5 Qe7 8.Qxh8 Qh4 

Black has aggressive plans, but he is apparently not familiar with the Jerome Gambit. His 7...Qe7, Whistler's defense, is based upon the idea of 8...Qxe4+, if White grabs the Rook. The checkmate threat at f2, instead, is easily dealt with, and as the game goes, Black is a move down compared to more mainline Jerome Gambit variations, and White is better.

Somewhat surprisingly, The Database has 6 games with this position, where White scored 3- 3. 

9.0–0 

Following up on the previous note, it can be pointed out that after 9.d4 Qxe4+ the game would transpose to Whistler's defense, a move down, when 10.Be3 Qxg2 11.Qxh7+ Ke6 12.Qxg8+ Kd6 13.Bf4+ Kc6 14.Rf1 Qe4+ 15.Be3 Bxd4 16.Qc4+ Kd6 17.Nc3 Bxc3+ 18.Qxc3 b6 19.0–0–0+ Ke6 20.Rfe1 Black resigned, PedrosF1 – samgib996, lichess.org, 2021. That extra move changes the evaluation of the position from "good for Black" to "good for White".

9...d6 

More direct was 9...Nf6, closing in the enemy Queen, forcing White to take moves to extract her; but 10.Qd8 would be good enough of a response, and 10.d4 would keep White's advantage.

10.Nc3 

Better 10.d4. 

10...Qg5 

Careless.

The players could split the point after 10...Nf6 11.Qd8 Bd7 12.Qxc7 Rc8 13.Qxb7 Rb8 14.Qc7 Rc8 15.Qb7 Rb8 16.Qc7, etc.

11.d4

White's move attacks both Queen and Bishop, while maintaining pressure on the King.

Black resigned