Jerome Gambit: It's Good to Know

A journey to the Jerome Gambit can occasionally be diverted by the defender to the Two Knights game, although there are still dangers for the second player, as the following game shows. 

rincincinzio - LordOptimusPrimus

1 0 bullet, 2025

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Bxf7+

We have been here before. In "Impatient vs Inattentive"

Stockfish 16.1 evaluates this position as about a pawn worse for White than it evaluates 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ for White. 

This game brought "impatience" to mind again. I had touched on the topic as recently as 3 months ago, in Jerome Gambit: Impatience 

Four years ago, in the blog post "Unasked Questions" I looked at the Two Knights line 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Bxf7+ and commented 

This line doesn't have a name, as far as I know, but it might as well be "the impatient Jerome Gambit". The earliest game that I have with it in The Database is from 2001, but it has to be much older than that. My research is lacking here.

Subsequently (see "Jerome Gambit: Facing Up to 4.Bxf7+ in the Two Knights [Part 2]"), thanks to Dr. Timothy Harding's UltraCorr 3A (2010) collection of correspondence chess games, I uncovered Draper, Dr - Child, AW., Belfast - Dublin team correspondence match-2 1891-2, an earlier game with that "impatient" line.

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.d4 Nc6 7.e5

Now 7...Be7 or 7...d5 will be best for Black.

7...Nd5 8.Qf3+ Kg8 9.Qxd5 checkmate

Checking The Database, it appears that rincincinzio has won 20 games with this line.