The following encounter between club level players is a good example of "impatience" vs "inattention".
This time, impatience wins.
I hope that both players enjoyed their game as much as I do.
Samuel123four - Andres263k
10 0 blitz, Chess.com, 2025
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Bxf7+
This game is an interesting mixture of modern play and earlier exploration, and I was pleased to receive it.
I had looked at this line a while back, for example "Jerome Gambit: Facing Up to 4.Bxf7+ in the Two Knights (Part 2)"
[T]he earliest example that I have found of the Two Knights "impatient Jerome Gambit" line, 1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Nf6 3.Nf3 Nc6 4.Bxf7+, is the following game. It is just the start of the investigation, as it raises many more questions than it answers.
The game referred to in that earlier post, Draper, Dr - Child AW, Belfast - Dublin team correspondence match-2, 1891-92 (0-1, 20), almost immediately diverges from the modern line.
4...Kxf7 5.Ng5+
White wastes no time continuing his aggression.
Notice how more effective this Knight move is when Black has a Knight on f6, rather than a Bishop on c5, as in the troubling Face Palm variation.
The Database has 890 games with the current game's position. White scores 49% - a coin toss.
By the way, Dr. Draper continued in his game, instead, with the quiet 5.Qe2.
5...Ke8 6.O-O d5
Black has no intention of going gently into that good night. His position is better, and he wants to make something of it.
Therein lies the seeds of his defeat: besting the Jerome Gambit (and its relatives) requires continued attention to the task.
7.exd5 Nxd5 8.Qh5+
Immediately taking advantage of the absence of Black's Knight.
Stockfish 16.1 evaluates three responses, one leading to checkmate by White, one leading to an equal game - and the move played in the game at hand.
8...g6
The defense continues to defend.
9.Qf3 Qxg5 10.Qxd5
An exchange of pieces.
10...Bh3
Black tries his hand at attacking.
11.d4 Nxd4
Capturing a pawn, with thoughts of ...Nxc2, perhaps, and then winning the Rook at a1.
But he slips - a major danger in facing Jerome Gambit or Jerome-like openings is that a moment of inattention can be all that it takes to move an assessment from "-+" to "+-".
And, so it is, here.
12.Bxg5
Ouch.
12...c6 13.Qxe5+ Be7 14.Qxe7 checkmate
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