It can be fun to look at a chess position and figure out the sharpest line of play.
It is a lot easier, when the position appears in a blog post, like this one.
It is harder when the position appears on the board in a game that you are playing.
Even moreso, when the time control is 1-minute.
All that said, White survives handily in the following Jerome Gambit game.
DutchLiLi - MrJBlake
1 0 bullet, lichess.org, 2025
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nd4
The Blackburne Shilling Gambit.
4.Bxf7+
The Blackburne Shilling Jerome Gambit.
4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Ke8 6.Qh5+ g6 7.Nxg6 Nxc2+
White's Knight is threatening a Black Rook on one side of the board, and Black's Knight is threatening a White Rook on the other side of the board.
The Database has 311 games with this position. White wins 65%, even though Stockfish 16.1 evaluates the game as completely even: 0.00.
We will soon see why.
8.Kd1 Nxa1
The logical followup, although the computer suggests that allowing White to give perpetual check is better, e.g. 8...hxg6 9.Qxg6+ Ke7 10.Qg5+ Ke8 11.Qg6+ etc, draw.
I am not sure that either player would be happy with that outcome, but with the way things go, perhaps Black should have tried 8...hxg6.
9.Nxh8+ Ke7
White has a plan to round up the enemy King. That is most important.
He did have the alternative, 10.Qe5#, but that is mostly a footnote in this chess essay.
10...Kd6 11.Qf4+
With this move White still has the advantage, but he will now have to work a bit more. Instead, there was another footnote, 11.Qd5+ Ke7 12.Qe5#, which I am sure he saw just as soon as he could catch his breath.
11... Kc6 12.Nf7
12...Qf6 was a bit safer, with the chance to exchange Queens.
13.Ne5+ Kb6 14.Nc4+
This works, although he might have added a piece to the King hunt with 14.Nc3.
14...Ka6 15.Nba3
The Knight keeps an eye on the c2 square, keeping its counterpart confined. Instead, 15.Nc3 was the way to keep an advantage, although White's Queen needs to be re-positioned, too.
15...Nf6
Black is organizing his defense and thinking of eventual counter-attack.
16.d3 d6
One or two steps? That is always the question for Black's d-pawn. In this case, the answer is two.
17.Qg5
White wants his Queen to go Queenside.
17...h6
Must be the clock. With 17...c5 18.Qd2 b6, Black would have limited the enemy Queen.
18.Qa5 checkmate
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