In the Blackburne Shilling Gambit, Black has high hopes that his third move will bamboozle White and lead to a killing attack. However, in the following game, Black's fourth move practically cedes the point. If this is a "Jedi Mind Trick", it is no match for a good blaster at your side...
sahistonline - aguisou
blitz, FICS, 2013
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nd4
The Blackburne Shilling Gambit.
4.Bxf7+
The Blackburne Shilling Jerome Gambit.
4...Ke7
The Blackburne Shilling Jerome Gambit Declined.
A word to the wise defender: Don't.
In 475 games in The Database, White scores 70%
For a good discussion of this Blackburne Shilling Jerome Gambit Declined see "Idées Fixes et Manqués",
5.Nxe5!?
This complicating move appears in 201 games in The Database, where White scores 66%.
That is a good bit better than 5.Bd5, which appears in 10 games in The Database, where White scores only 50%. Half-way measures, it seems, score half the time.
"Best" according to Houdini, is 5.Bb3, which appears in a mere 14 games in The Database, where White scores "only" 68%. Perhaps the retreat is too "conservative" for many Jerome Gambiteers!
On the other hand, 5.Nxd4 appears in 78 games in The Database, where White scores 70%.
Alternately, 5.Bc4 appears in 32 games in The Database, where White scores 75%.
Finally, 5.Bxg8 appears in 102 games in The Database, where White scores 77%.
So, for White: hang onto your piece with 5.Bb3, or swap it off with 5.Bxg8; but you are by no means limited to these two good, contrasting, ideas.
5...Nf6 6.Bc4
White can tell his opponent what Al Capone said in "The Untouchables" - You got nothing.
6...d5 7.exd5 Nxd5 8.c3 Nf5 9.Qf3 White won by adjudication
