While Dr. Michael Goeller was filling me in on the reversed Blackburne Shilling Gambit (see "Through the Looking Glass: A Reversed BSG" and "Looking Deeper: the Reversed BSG") and working with his friend, Fritz, to temper my expectations (see "Reversed BSG: A Closer Look"), he dropped this bomb on me
I have seen [GM Larry] Christiansen venture your favorite Jerome Gambit in ICC blitz or simul games, but I'm not sure he really believes in it.
You can imagine my response! Grandmaster Larry "Storming the Barracades" Christiansen!? The Jerome Gambit??
As politely and calmly as possible (under the circumstances), I asked to see some of the games...
I began searching for LarryC games but ran into the dreaded "Game Database temporarily unavailable." But I turned up a couple before that kept happening...
I think he mostly does this as an interesting way to spot a weaker opponent a piece in online simuls.
Remembering now, he probably does it mostly via the C24 Bishop's Opening, which is how I stumbled upon the LarryC Jerome Gambit phenomenon -- while searching for Urusov Games, of course.
I will try to dig up some more this weekend, but anyone you know on ICC can find them with the search string "Search LarryC C24 White" etc.
I suggested that he look for Jerome Gambit games under C50 as well. I heard back from Dr. Goeller.
I spent some more time looking for LarryC games on ICC with the Bxf7 sac but couldn't find any more. I am not sure why, because I am certain I saw a bunch of them a couple years back while doing a search. It's possible that unrated games (such as simul games) are only temporarily available on the server and then vanish, even if played by LarryC.
In any case, there are very few C50 games at all, and none that really meet your criteria. And I only found the one C24 game I sent. It seems almost certain I saw them while searching through recent C24 games, which I do from time to time. It seems unlikely I was looking at C50 games. Started trying C21 and got Game Database currently unavailable. But the few I was able to go through did not look promising.
So sorry to get your hopes up and then disappoint... But at least you have one game. I'll keep an eye out for more.
In all, Dr. Goeller sent me two games, which we will look at in future posts.
Still in the hunt for more information on the reversed Blackburne Shilling Gambit (see "Through the Looking Glass: A Reversed BSG" and "Looking Deeper: The Reversed BSG"), I tracked down another expert to help me out.
Dr. Michael Goeller's site "The Bishop's Opening" is a great resource at http://www.rci.rutgers.edu/~goeller/urusov/bishops/index.html
Here are several of his comments
I like analyzing old and obscure lines as much as you do, but I try to confine myself to strategically sound openings that are based on some principle (even if that principle is just speedy development). Almost always, the lines I look at have been played by GMs or other strong players, who obviously agreed there was something to it...
I was just reading GM Nigel Davies's blog this morning, which seems quite appropriate: http://chessimprover.com/2011/03/19/openings-for-post-beginners/
I took a quick look with Fritz -- see results below. I do not think it's something I'd try myself as White. And I think I'm prepared now to face it as Black.... :-)
1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Bc5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Nd5
4...Nxe4!?
Remember: as Tim McGrew shows [see McGrew's two "Gambit Cartel" columns from ChessCafe.com on the Blackburne Shilling Gambit: 1 & 2], this move is better than its reputation in the regular Blackburne Shilling Gambit, so long as you are willing to sac a piece for Cochrane Gambit type play. [Readers interested in 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 d6 4.Nxf7!? should check out Dr. Goeller's work on the Cochrane at his Kenilworthian site] Here it may even be better because of Bc4 for White, which sets up some nice shots with c6 and d5 coming.
Black has a number of perfectly good alternatives, of course:
a) 4...b5!? 5.Bb3 (5.Bxb5?? c6 6.Nxf6+ Qxf6+-) 5...Nxd5 6.exd5 Qg5!? 7.Qf3 Qg6 unclear;
b) 4...0-0 5.b4 (5.d4?! exd4 6.Bg5 Be7 =/+) 5...Bb6 6.d3 Nxd5 7.exd5 e4!? with the idea of Qf6;
c) 4...c6 5.Nxf6+ Qxf6 6.Nf3 d6=
5.d4!
Probably best.
5.Qg4 Bxf2+ 6.Kf1 0-0! ["This is certainly a lot more fun than most of the lines" - Tim McGrew, on the related line in the regular BSG ]7.Qxe4 Bxg1 8.Rxg1 c6 9.Bd3 (9.Ne3 d5 10.Nxd5 cxd5 11.Bxd5 Nd7 -/+) 9...f5 10.Qxe5 d6 11.Qd4 cxd5 12.Qxd5+ Kh8 =/+ and I think you have to prefer Black slightly here, though I admit it is about equal and probably playable for White.
5...Bxd4 6.Qg4 c6!
6...0-0?! 7.Bh6±.
7.Qxg7
7.Qxe4 Qa5+ 8.Bd2 cxd5 9.Bxd5 Qb6 unclear
7...cxd5 8.Qxh8+ Ke7 9.Qxd8+
9.Qxh7!? Qa5+ -/+
9...Kxd8 10.Bxd5 Nxf2 11.Nf3 Nxh1=
Interesting enough, all by itself – but things were about to get even more interesting... (to be continued)
I was playing my way through some of Bill Wall's chess games when I suddenly felt like Alice must have felt, after moving through the Looking Glass. What I found on the other side was not quite a Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) and I wasn't sure quite what to call it.
A Vienna Game? A Russian Three Knights Game headed toward an Italian Four Knights Game?
4...Ng4
And what is that? A Jabberwocky?
5.Bxf7+ Kxf7 6.Nxe5+ Nxe5 7.Qh5+
This looks remarkably like a Jerome Gambit, only Black has a Knight at b8, not g8; and White has a Knight already on c3.
7...Ke6
Or, as in the only other example that I have been able to find of this line: 7...g6 8.Qxe5 d6 9.Qf4+ Ke8 10.0-0 Rf8 11.Qh6 Bxf2+ 12.Rxf2 Rxf2 13.Kxf2 Qf6+ 14.Kg1 Nd7 15.Qxh7 Nf8 16.Qxc7 Ne6 17.Qxd6 Qg5 18.d4 Qg4 19.Bd2 Ng5 20.Qe5+ Kf7 21.Bxg5 Qh5 22.Qf6+ Ke8 23.Qe7 checkmate Jeng, - Hatcher, San Jose, 1994.
8.d4 Bxd4
9.Nb5 Nbc6
A reasonable move, but one that loses. Rybka recommends: 9...Bxf2+ (the Bishop is lost, anyhow) 10.Kxf2 d6 (so that Black will have a counter to White's Bishop's attack on his Queen) 11.Bg5 g6 12.Qh3+ Kf7 13.Qb3+ Be6 14.Bxd8 Bxb3 15.axb3 Rxd8 16.Nxc7 Nbd7 17.Nxa8 Rxa8 when Black will have two Knights against a Rook and a pawn; and probably an edge.
analysis diagram
10.Qf5+ Ke7 11.Bg5+ Black resigned
'Twas brillig...
In 1877 in Australia, H. Charlick played a correspondence game combining the Evans Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.b4) with the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+): see "The Evans Jerome Gambit". A similar idea has appeared in the Bishop's Opening, 1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Bc5.
Delanoy - KameneckiCannes, France (2), 2000
1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Bc5 3.b4
According to Bishop's Opening expert Michael Goeller,
This move is a good method of transposing to the Evans Gambit since it allows for some independent possibilities, some of which are quite favorable for White. If you like to play the Evans Gambit, this seems the most flexible way to do so..
3...Bxb4
Accepting the gambit by 3....Bxb4 challenges White to prove compensation. The resulting positions are very similar to the Evans Gambit and White probably does best to transpose to the Evans in most lines. There is one significant advantage for White, however, in offering the gambit pawn before developing the Knight to f3. In the line 4.c3 Ba5, which has proven one of the more thorny in Evans Gambit theory, White can play 5.f4!? instead of 4.Nf3 Nc6. - Goeller
4.c3
Instead, 4.f4 exf4 is the McDonnell Double Gambit, about which there is an interesting article by IM Nikolai Minev. 5.Nf3 Ne7 6.Ng5 Ng6 7.Qh5 Qf6 8.c3 h6 9.Bxf7+ Ke7 10.Bxg6 Qxg5 11.Qxg5+ hxg5 12.cxb4 d6 13.Nc3 c6 14.d4 Kf6 15.Bf5 Bxf5 16.exf5 Kxf5 17.0-0 Kg6 18.g3 fxg3 19.hxg3 d5 20.Bd2 Nd7 21.Rae1 Rh3 22.Kg2 g4 23.Ne2 Rhh8 24.Nf4+ Kh7 25.Re7 Nf6 26.Ne6 Nh5 27.Rff7 Rhe8 28.Nf4 Nxf4+ 29.gxf4 Rxe7 30.Rxe7 a5 31.a3 axb4 32.Bxb4 b5 33.Kg3 Kg6 34.Kxg4 Black resigned, was Brownson - Jerome, Iowa 1875.
4...Bc5 
5.d4 exd4 6.Bxf7+ Kxf7
Or 6...Kf8 7.Bxg8 Kxg8 8.cxd4 Bb4+ 9.Nd2 Qe7 10.Qb3+ Kf8 11.Qf3+ Ke8 12.Ne2 Rf8 13.Qe3 d5 14.e5 c5 15.a3 cxd4 16.Nxd4 Bc5 17.N2b3 Bb6 18.0-0 Nc6 19.Bb2 Bf5 20.Qc3 Nxd4 21.Nxd4 Rc8 22.Qb3 Rc4 23.Nb5 Bc2 24.Nd6+ Qxd6 25.Qxc4 dxc4 26.exd6 Bd3 27.Bxg7 Rf7 28.Rae1+ Kd7 29.Be5 Bxf1 30.Rxf1 Bc5 31.a4 a6 32.a5 Kc6 33.Rd1 Bxf2+ 34.Kh1 Rd7 35.g4 Bc5 36.h4 Bxd6 37.Bc3 Be7 38.Rxd7 Kxd7 39.h5 Ke6 40.Kg2 Bf6 41.Bb4 c3 42.g5 c2 43.Bd2 Bb2 White resigned, Schuermans - Verwimp, Belgium 2003
7.Qh5+ g6 8.Qxc5 Qe7
Goeller gives 8...Nf6 as equal.
9.Qd5+ Qe6 10.Qxe6+ dxe6 11.cxd4 Nf6 12.Nc3 Rd8 13.Nf3 Nc6
From here on, White consistently outplays Black in an interesting Queenless middlegame, and an instructive endgame.
14.Be3 a6 15.0-0 Kg7 16.Rac1 h6 17.Rfd1 Ne7 18.h3 c6
White has more space and better development, while Black plans his defensive formation.
19.Ne5 g5 20.f3 Ng6 21.Na4 Nxe5 22.dxe5 Rxd1+ 23.Rxd1 Nd7 24.Nb6 Nxb6 25.Bxb6
By allowing Black to double his pawns on the e-file, White has found time to put a serious cramp into his opponent's game.
25...a5 26.Rd8 a4 27.Kf2 Ra6 28.Bc5 Ra8 29.Kg3 b5
A bid for breathing space, as Black is being strangled on the Queenside.
30.Kg4 Kg6 31.Rg8+ Kf7 32.Rf8+ Kg7 33.Kh5 Bb7
Finally!
Of course, White has no interest in exchanging Rooks.
Black's next move quickens the end, but 34...Re8 would only postpone the loss, not evade it.
34.Rf6 Rd8 35.Rxe6 Bc8 36.Rxc6 Bd7 37.Rc7 Kf7 38.Kxh6 Ke6 Black resigned
