A defender unfamiliar with the Jerome Gambit might search for some opening ideas from elsewhere, and try to apply them to the defense. That is a useful practice, and sometimes it works - but not in the following game.
Wall, Bill - Euphron
FICS, 2019
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+
4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.d4 Bd6
I sometimes wonder when Black plays this move, if he is remembering the Fork Trick, 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bc4 Nxe4 5.Nxe4 d5 6.Bd3 dxe4 7.Bxe4.
Still, there is a problem applying the logic of that opening line to the Jerome Gambit. The straight-forward 6...Bxd4 was simpler and stronger.
7.dxe5 Bxe5
The piece was safer on e7 or even f8. That is one of the interesting Jerome Gambit wrinkles.
8.Qh5+
There are 64 games in The Database with this move. White scores a solid 67%. (Bill: 100%)
For comparison, there are 69 games with 8.Qd5+. White scores 76%. (Bill: 100%)
8...Kf8
Black's King backs away from the action. "Stronger" (it may not feel that way for someone new to the Jerome Gambit) was 8...Ke6, but White still got plenty of play in Wall,B - Nikelin, lichess.org, 2017, (1-0, 14)
Also dealt with harshly was 8...g6, e.g. 9.Qxe5 Nf6 10.Bg5 Re8 11.Qf4 b6 12.e5 Black resigned, Wall,B - NN, lichess.org, 2016.
9.Qxe5 d6 10.Qf4+Qf6 11.Nc3
White is a pawn up, and doesn't mind exchanging Queens. If Black initiates the swap, the recapture will help White's development. The first player certainly has no need to enter complications.
11...c6
This keeps White's Knight out of d6, but weakens the d6 pawn, and this will have an effect on the rest of the play in the game.
12.O-O Bd7 13.Qg3 Nh6 14.Bf4 Nf7 15.h4
White's h-pawn plays more in the coming action than Black's h-Rook.
15...Re8 16.Rad1 Ne5 17.Bg5 Qe6 18.f4 Nf7
19.f5 Qe5 20.Bf4 Qc5+ 21.Kh1 Bc8
Making room for the Rook to slide over to d8 and protect the pawn on d6. Too late.
22.f6 g6 23.Bxd6+ Nxd6 24.Rxd6 Black resigned
White is only 2 pawns up, but they are the mighty "Jerome pawns", and their advance will cause destruction.
Recently I received some Jerome Gambit games from long-time unorthodox openings expert Bill Wall. He pointed out
My chessbase database says I have played 352 Jeromes without transposition and I just now discovered the statistics page with a 93% winning advantage. I have 168 games with 6.Qh5 (90% winning percentage) and 138 games with 6.d4 with a 90.6% winning percentage. Pretty even.
I have now played 50,817 chess games that I have a recorded game since 1969. I should hit 51,000 before the end of the year.
One reason (besides skill and knowledge) that Bill does so well with the Jerome Gambit is that his opponents do not take the opening seriously - to their dismay, as he does.
Wall, Bill - Guest412053
PlayChess.com, 2017
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+
4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.d4 Bd6
This is trouble. The Bishop could have gone to e7 or f8, with or without checking at b4 first.
7.dxe5 Bxe5
A tale similar to the game: 7...Bb4+ 8.c3 Ba5 9.Qd5+ Ke8 10.Qxa5 Black resigned, Wall,B - Guest1227654, PlayChess.com, 2017.
8.Qd5+
Or 8.Qh5+ Ke6 9.Qf5+ Kd6 10.Na3 Qf6 11.Nc4+ Ke7 12.Bg5 d6 13.Bxf6+ gxf6 14.Qf3 Black resigned, Wall,B - Nikelin, lichess.org, 2017.
8...Kf6
Not the only, or safest, way to move the King. There was: 8...Kf8 9.Qxe5 d6 (9...Qe7 10.Qxc7 [10.Qf4+ Nf6 11.Nc3 d6 12.O-O Qe5 13.Qxe5 dxe5 14.f4 exf4 15.Bxf4 Ne8 16.Bd6+ Kg8 17.Rf8 checkmate, Wall,B - Guest539122, PlayChess.com, 2015] 10...Qxe4+ 11.Kf1 d5 12.b3 d4 13.Ba3+ Ne7 14.Nd2 Qe6 15.Re1 Qd7 16.Bxe7+ Black resigned,Wall,B - Guest851465, PlayChess.com, 2017) 10.Qb5 (10.Qd4 Nf6 11.O-O c5 12.Qd3 Bd7 13.Bf4 a6 14.Bxd6+ Kf7 15.e5 Bb5 16.c4 Black resigned, Wall,B - Guest5856753, PlayChess.com, 2016) 10...Nf6 11.Nc3 c6 12.Qd3 Be6 13.Bg5 h6 14.Bh4 g5 15.Bg3 Ke7 16.O-O-O Ne8 17.f4 g4 18.Bh4+ Nf6 19.e5 dxe5 20.Qg6 Qf8 21.fxe5 Black resigned, Wall,B - NN, lichess.org, 2016.
9.f4 Bd6
Apparently offering to return the piece, after all, once White has played the fork 10.e5+.
Black has tried other moves against Bill, as well:
9...Qe7 10.fxe5+ Qxe5 11.Rf1+ Kg6 12.Qf7 checkmate, Wall,B - Vicher, lichess.org, 2016; and
9...c6 10.Qxe5+ Kf7 11.O-O Qe7 12.Nc3 d6 13.Qh5+ g6 14.Qe2 Nf6 15.e5 Nd5 16.Nxd5 cxd5 17.Qb5 dxe5 18.fxe5+ Kg7 19.Qxd5 Re8 20.c3 Qxe5 21.Qf7+ Kh8 22.Bg5 Qxg5 23.Qxe8+ Kg7 24.Qf8 checkmate, Wall,B - Neilson,C, Melbourne, FL, 2016.
10.Qg5+
The real threat, winning Black's Queen.
One of Bill's games last year continued 10...Kf7 11.Qxd8 Black resigned, Wall,B - NN, lichess.org 2016, but in this game, here
Black resigned
Sometimes a player will find a path through the forest that is the Jerome Gambit. Later, others will clarify the way. In the following game, Bill Wall makes the way a bit clearer.
Wall, Bill - Nikelin
lichess.org, 2017
1.e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+
4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.d4 Bd6
7.dxe5 Bxe5
The best response was 7...Bb4+.
8.Qh5+ Ke6 9.Qf5+ Kd6 10.Na3
This is right, the Knight should go to a3, not c3, as we shall see.
10...Qf6
In HauntedKnight - VSRajput, FCIS, 2015, White had the right idea in responsing to 10...Bf6, but then lost his way: 11.Nc4+ Ke7 12.Bf4 d6 13.Qb5 Qe8 14.O-O-O Qxb5 15.b3 Be6 16.Ne3 Qb4 17.g4 Qa3+ 18.Kd2 g5 19.Bg3 h5 20.h4 gxh4 21.Bxh4 hxg4 22.Bxf6+ Nxf6 23.Rxh8 Rxh8 24.f4 gxf3 25.Rf1 Nxe4+ 26.Kd3 Ng5 27.c4 Qxa2 28.Re1 Qxb3+ 29.Kd2 Ne4+ 30.Kc1 Qc3+ 31.Nc2 Nf2 32.Kb1 Kf6 33.Rf1 Rh1 34.Rxh1 Nxh1 White resigned
11.Nc4+ Ke7 12.Bg5
White missed his chance after 12.Qxe5+ Qxe5 13.Nxe5 d6 14.Bg5+ Ke6 15.Nc4 b5 16.Ne3 h6 17.Bh4 g5 18.Bg3 Nf6 19.f3 b4 20.b3 Ba6 21.O-O-O Bb5 22.h4 Nh5 23.Be1 Nf4 24.hxg5 hxg5 25.Rxh8 Rxh8 26.Bxb4 Rh2 27.Rg1 Ne2+ 28.Kd2 Nxg1 29.Bc3 Nxf3+ 30.Kc1 Rh1+ 31.Kb2 Nh4 32.g3 Ng6 33.Nd5 c6 34.Ne3 Rh3 35.Nf5 Ne5 36.a4 Be2 37.Nd4+ Kd7 38.Nxe2 Rh2 39.Nd4 c5 40.Nf5 Nd3+ 41.Ka3 Nb4 42.Bxb4 cxb4+ 43.Kxb4 Rxc2 44.Nd4 Rg2 45.e5 dxe5 46.Nf3 Rxg3 47.Nxe5+ Ke6 48.Nc4 Rg4 when White forfeited on time, noatun - Papaflesas, FICS, 2008.
12...d6 13.Bxf6+ gxf6 14.Qf3 Black resigned
