The defender in a Jerome Gambit game has the option of challenging his opponent to make his way through the complications that that opponent created with his two sacrifices - or for White to make something of a slower game, a pawn up, after the sacrifices are declined.
In the following game, Bill is comfortable in the calmer game, too.
Wall, Bill - NN
SparkChess, 2026
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.d4
The Database is incomplete when it comes to this move, even if it has 2,878 games with this position. It leads to a Jerome - Scotch gambit hybrid.
Similar treatment can be seen in the recent LSCLegend13 - Herculean_Widhynovich, 10 0 blitz, Chess.com, 2026 (1-0, 13) and LSCLegend13 - hughtuff230, 5 0 blitz, Chess.com, 2026 (1-0, 9).
5...exd4 6.Ng5+
From "Jerome Gambit: The Improved Face Palm Variation?!"
Having taken a look at what I called the "Face Palm Variation" of the Jerome Gambit, I wondered if there was an "improved" variation, where White played an early d2-d4, so that his Knight could safely move to g5 with the support of his dark square Bishop.
I quickly recalled the game Wright - Hunn, Arkansas,1874, played about a half year after Alonzo Wheeler Jerome published his first analysis of his gambit in the Dubuque Chess Journal. The game began 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.d4 exd4 5.Bxf7+.
The line was referred to as The Macbeth Attack on the Italian language website Sacchi64. It has a relationship to the Italian Gambit, (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.d4) as explored by Jude Acers and George S. Laven in their book The Italian Gambit and A Guiding Repertoire for White - 1.e4, (although they were not interested in Bxf7+) as well as to the Lewis Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Bc5 3.d4) and the Von der Lasa Gambit, (1.e4 e5 2.d4 exd4 3.Bc4 Bc5).
As pointed out in "Brilliant But Not Sound"
DCJ: "SK5 à la Jerome is better than SS5." [The Dubuque Chess Journal here uses descriptive notation with "S" for "Springer" instead of "N" or "Kt" for "Knight."]
However, Stockfish 16.1 agrees with Bill, assessing 6.Ng5 as about a pawn better than 6.Ne5.
6...Kf8
6...Ke8 was seen in Amateur - Amateur, Kent County Cup, 1899 (1-0, 27).
7.Qh5
7...Bb4+ 8.c3 g6
When your piece is attacked, instead of moving it, attack an opponent's piece, especially one of greater value.
9.Qf3+
Moving away, with check.
9...Qf6 10.cxb4 Qxf3
Too cooperative. He could try 10...h6!?, which might lead to an edge, e.g.: 11.b5 hxg5 12.bxc6 Qxf3 13.gxf3 bxc6 14.Bxg5 Rb8 15.Nd2 Rxb2 16.Nb3 c5 17.Bd8 c4 18.Nxd4 c5 19.Ne2 Rh3 20.Ng3 Ne7 21.O-O Nc6.
11.Nxf3 Nxb4 12.Nxd4
White has an edge, but that's all Bill really needs.
12...c5 13.Bd2 cxd4 14.Bxb4+ Kf7 15.Bc5 b6 16.Bxd4 Nf6 17.f3
White has a solid position and an extra pawn. His only "danger" is that if the Rooks and Knights come off the board, the Bishops-of-opposite-colors endgame would be drawish.
17...Re8 18.Nc3 d5
A tactical slip, costing more material, as Bill shows.
19.Bxf6 Kxf6 20.Nxd5+
20...Kg7 21.Nc7 Bb7 22.Nxe8+ Rxe8 23.Rc1
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