I certainly wish that I could find a definite link between Alonzo Wheeler Jerome, the "inventor" of the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+), and the similar line in the Bishop's Opening (1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Bc5 3.Bxf7+) - other than the references Gerald Abrahams made in two of his books, hence my naming the line the Abrahams Jerome Gambit.
Still, it's hard to overlook the following game, where White tops a player rated over 350 points above him. "outwitted"? I don't think so! (When he looks over his game, I hope my notes help.)
outwitted - perece
standard, FICS, 2015
1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Bc5 3.Bxf7+
Currently there are 16,200 Abrahams Jerome Gambit games in The Database (with many more to add). White wins 51%. This compares with 11,645 standard Jerome Gambit games (not counting transpositions from the Four Knights or the Semi-Italian) where White scores 45%.
3...Kxf7 4.Qh5+ Ke6 5.Nf3
While going over this game I found an interesting glitch in Stockfish 6. It evaluates the alternative move 5.Qg4+ as "=" (0.00) and keeps that evaluation even after the move 5...Kf7 is played, saying that after 6.Qh5+ the evaluation will still be "0.00". However, when I play 6.Qh5+ I immediately see that after 6...Kf8 Black is rated 1.5 (or so) pawns better!?
For other thoughts on the move see "Exploring".
5...Qf6
This is not as strong a move as in many of the regular Jerome Gambit lines.
6.d4
Opening a line to add his Bishop to the attack. Next time outwitted will be ready with 6.Qe8+ Qe7 7.Qxc8 winning a piece.
6...Bxd4
6...Nc6, best for Black, is still better for White.
7.Bg5
Straight forward. However, 7.Nxd4+ is the right way to go after the Queen, i.e. 7...exd4 8.Qd5+ Ke7 9.Bg5. (This is the second time that outwitted appears in The Database with the white pieces, and he is still feeling his way around.)
7...Qg6
Now Black is OK.
8.Qg4+ Kd6
A better defense was 8...Kf7 9.Nh4 (9.c3 Bb6 10.Nxe5+ Black resigned, bobx - ABoni, FICS, 2007) 9...Qe6 10.c3 h6 11.Qxe6+ dxe6 12.Bd2 Bb6 13.O-O Nf6 14.Be3 Rf8 15.Bxb6 axb6 16.f4 exf4 17.Rxf4 g5 18.Rf1 gxh4 19.e5 Kg6 20.exf6 Rxf6 21.Rxf6+ Kxf6 22.Nd2 Ra4 23.Rf1+ Kg7 24.a3 Nc6 25.Nf3 h3 26.g3 e5 27.Re1 Kf6 28.Nh4 Rxh4 29.gxh4 Bg4 30.Rf1+ Ke6 31.Rf8 h5 32.Re8+ Kd5 33.Rc8 Kd6 34.Rh8 e4 35.Rh6+ Kd5 36.Rh8 e3 37.Re8 e2 38.Kf2 Ne5 39.Rd8+ Ke4 40.Re8 Kf4 41.Rf8+ Ke4 42.Re8 Kd5 43.Rd8+ Kc4 44.Rd4+ Kb3 45.Re4 Nd3+ 46.Ke3 e1=Q+ 47.Kxd3 Bf5 48.c4 Qxe4+ 49.Kd2 Qd3+ 50.Ke1 Kxb2 51.Kf2 Qe4 52.Kf1 Qf3+ 53.Ke1 Kc2 54.c5 Bd3 55.cxb6 Qe2 checkmate, RattyMouse - vballmike, FICS, 2009.
9.c3
This works, in light of Black's response, but next time White might follow RattyMouse: 9.Nbd2 Nf6 10.Qg3 Nxe4 11.Nxe4+ Qxe4+ 12.Kd1 Bxb2 13.Rb1 Qd5+ 14.Ke2 Bc3 15.Rhd1 Bd4 16.Nxd4 Qc4+ 17.Ke3 Qc3+ 18.Rd3 Qc5 19.Rbb3 Nc6 20.Rbc3 Qxc3 21.Rxc3 Nxd4 22.Kd3 b6 23.Be3 Ba6+ 24.Kd2 Nc6 25.Qxg7 Rhg8 26.Qxh7 Rxg2 27.Qh6+ Ke7 28.Qh7+ Kd6 29.Qh6+ Ke7 30.Bg5+ Kf7 31.Qf6+ Ke8 32.Qh8+ Kf7 33.Qxa8 Rxf2+ 34.Ke3 Re2+ 35.Kf3 e4+ 36.Kf4 Black forfeited on time, RattyMouse - Udon, FICS, 2008.
Stockfish 6's suggestion is 9.Nxd4 exd4 10.e5+ Kc6 11.O-O Qe6 12.Qf3+ Kb6 13.c3 Ne7 14.cxd4 c6 15.Nc3 Nd5.
9...Bxf2+
Lashing out. There is an idea behind the move, but White figures it out.
10.Kxf2 h6
The White Bishop is pinned.
11.Rd1+ Kc5 12.Rd5+
12. Be3+ is fine, too.
12...Kc4 13.Nxe5 checkmate.
Compared to the urban superhighways of the Ruy Lopez or King's Indian Defense, the Jerome Gambit is a path through the woods. Some lesser-played lines are a trudge through the wilderness. In the following game, White, with 155 games in The Database, travels, then wanders, then gets a bit lost - fortunately for him, his opponent is even less prepared for the journey.
fehim - sonikf
blitz, FICS, 2015
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+
4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ng6 7.Qd5+Kf8 8.Qxc5+ N8e7
A playable, but not often played, move. (More often seen is 8...d6.) All of the relevant games from The Database can be given or linked to.
9.O-O d6 10.Qe3
10.Qc4 was seen in Wall,B - Guesty1960624, PlayChess.com, 2013 (1-0, 30) while fehim, himself, tried earlier: 10.Qb4 b6 11.d3 Bb7 12.Bg5 h6 13.Be3 Qd7 14.Nd2 Kf7 15.Qb3+ Qe6 16.Qc3 Rhf8 17.Qxc7 Rab8 18.Qc3 Kg8 19.Nf3 Rfc8 20.Qd2 Ne5 21.Nd4 Qf6 22.h3 N7c6 23.Nf5 Ne7 24.Ng3 d5 25.f4 N5g6 26.e5 Qf7 27.d4 Nf5 28.Nxf5 Qxf5 29.g4 Qxc2 30.Qb4 Nh4 31.Rf2 Qe4 32.Re1 Nf3+ 33.Kf1 Nxe1 34.Qxe1 Rc2 35.Rxc2 Qxc2 36.Qd2 Qxd2 37.Bxd2 Rc8 38.Bc3 Kf7 39.a3 Ke6 40.Kf2 a6 41.Kf3 b5 42.f5+ Ke7 43.Kf4 g5+ 44.fxg6 Rg8 45.h4 Rxg6 46.h5 Rg8 47.Kf5 Rf8+ 48.Kg6 Rf4 49.Kxh6 Rxg4 50.Kh7 White forfeited on time. fehim - HarryPaul, FICS, 2006.
10... Kf7
Alternatives:
10...Nc6 11.d4 Qe7 12.f4 Kg8 13.f5 Nf8 14.c3 h6 15.Na3 Nh7 16.Bd2 Nf6 17.Rae1 a6 18.Nc2 Bd7 19.e5 dxe5 20.dxe5 Nd5 21.Qe4 Nb6 22.Kh1 Rf8 23.g4 Qh4 24.e6 Bc8 25.Rg1 Re8 26.Bf4 Re7 27.b3 h5 28.g5 Black forfeited on time, MrJoker - rex3, Internet Chess Club, 2012;
10...h6 11.d4 Kg8 12.c4 (12.f4 as in mrjoker - hp9000, Internet Chess Club, 2009 [1-0, 19])12... Kh7 13. f4 c5 14. dxc5dxc5 15. Qxc5 Qb6 16. Qxb6 axb6 17. Be3 Ra6 18. Nc3 Rf8 19. g3 Bg4 20. Kg2 h5 21. h3 Bd7 22. a4 Bc6 23. b4 Nf5 24. Bg1 Black forfeited on time, MrJoker - ilongavab, Internet Chess Club, 2012 (1-0,24);
10...b6 as in perrypawnpusher - Jaqueperpetuo, blitz, FICS, 2011 (1-0, 25);
10...Ke8 11.d4 Rf8 12.f4 Kf7 (12...d5 as in guest645 - guest1600, Internet Chess Club, 2001 [1-0, 31]) 13. f5 Nh8 14. Qb3+ d5
15. Bg5 c6 16. Nc3 h6 17. Bxe7 Qxe7 18. exd5 Kg8 19. dxc6+ Nf7 20. Nd5 Qd6 21.c7 Kh7 22. Rae1 b6 23. c4 Bb7 24. Re6 Qd7 25. Re7 Qc8 26. Qg3 Bxd5 27. Qg6+ Kg828. f6 Ng5 Black resigned, Ghandy - pratmanu, FICS, 2011 (1-0, 28);
10... Be6 as in mrjoker - cherryhead, Internet Chess Club, 2008 (1-0, 50); and
10...Bd7 as in guest4097 - guest4686, Internet Chess Club, 2004 (1-0, 25);
11.f4 Rf8 12.f5 Ne5 13.Qb3+ d5
White is working to interfere with Black castling-by-hand. He should take a moment, now, to support his center with 14.Nc3. Instead, he continues to go after the enemy King.
14.f6 gxf6 15.exd5 Qxd5 16.Qg3
White does not want to exchange Queens and weaken his chances for an attack, but this move puts Her Majesty in a risky position and strengthens Black's counter-attack.
16...Bf5
Even stronger is 16...Rg8.
17.d3 Bg6 18.Nc3 Qe6 19.Bh6 Rg8 20.Rae1
In this complicated position Stockfish 6 recommends the bizarre 20...Be4!? 21.Bg5 Bf5!? when White's Bishop, not Black's, will be in danger, finishing up with 22.h4 h6 23.d4 Qb6 24.Qf2 hxg5 25.dxe5 Qxf2+ 26.Rxf2 gxh4 27.exf6 Kxf6 28.Rxf7 Kxf7 29.Rxf5; Black is ahead the exchange.
However, the defender gets lost in the woods.
20...Qd6 21.Rxe5 Black resigned
This is a complicated position (exchanging Queens first with 21.Qxe5 Qxe5 22.Rxe5 might have helped White) and it is difficult to see Black resigning while just a pawn down, but perhaps he had his fill of the wilderness or his clock was winding down.
Let's face it, some players succeed with the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) - even the more difficult lines - because they are strong, and they would succeed against their opponents whatever opening they used.
Then, there is the rest of us. Staying away from really bad lines (relatively speaking: remember, we are talking about the Jerome Gambit here) is essential. Never mind that our heroes have played them and escaped to triumph. There are some risks we should not take.
Galamon - GimpBishop
blitz, FICS, 2015
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+
4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ g6 7.Qxe5 Qe7
Whistler's Defense. Stronger, much less known, and more dangerous for White than Blackburne's Defense (7...d6).
Do yourself a favor as a Jerome Gambiteer: don't take the Rook.
8.Qxh8 Qxe4+ 9.Kf1
Yes, I know that Bill Wall once played the equally painful 9.Kd1 and managed a draw in Wall,B - Mathieubuntu, blitz 10 0, FICS, 2011 (1/2-1/2, 14). Better to remember the lessons of Jerome,A - Whistler,G, correspondence, 1876 (0-1, 15)
9...Qxc2
Yes, I know that against 9...Nf6 ZahariSokolov at FICS won his game last year (ZahariSokolov - Dragonianlee, FICS, 2014 [1-0, 20]) and Alonzo Wheeler Jerome achieved a draw, a long time ago, in a correspondence game (Jerome,A - Norton,D, correspondence, 1876 [½-½, 20]) but both were fortunate; and while the text is okay, 9...Qh4!? is stronger than either it or 9...Nf6.
10.Qxh7+ Kf8
If you have access to The Database you might want to point out to me that after 10...Kf6 White won in markinchrist - Gurucool, blitz, FICS, 2013 (1-0, 20) - but that was only because Black forfeited by disconnection when he had a forced checkmate in 9 moves.
11.Qxg6
A blunder.
Yes, chessmanjeff of FICS both won and lost games with 11.Nc3 (chessmanjeff - CHESSWILL, blitz, FICS, 2013 [1-0, 38] and chessmanjeff - throwback, blitz, FICS, 2014 [0-1, 16]) - that's scoring 50%, right? - but "objectively" Black's game was still better.
11...Qd1 checkmate
A couple of weeks ago someone ("MrMiniatures") at Chess.com suggested a "Serious Discussion of the Jerome Gambit" although, after a good start, it kind of ran down faster than a $5 watch...
Sure, there was some initial heat, like
It's completely unsound. Grandmasters and other strong players have proved it time and time again.
(Citations! Citations! Citations, if you please. Help me with my research. - Rick)
Then, there was some shared inquiry, and an assessment,
I had to look it up. Someone even wrote a wiki article on it: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giuoco_Piano,_Jerome_Gambit
Not much to analyze, really. White is just lost.
And, finally, some solid information,
Idk if this is still kept up to date but there's quite a bit in it if you're actually interested in this line: http://jeromegambit.blogspot.com/
(We're still here and posting every-other-day.- Rick)
Then things wandered off into a discussion of 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 Nxe4...
Of course, I added my two cents' worth. We'll see if there is any kind of response.
White has over 600 games in The Database. He has seen a lot in the Jerome Gambit world. In the following game, he encounters something new. I've added a few games and ideas, for when he meets it again.
yorgos - gruzanin
blitz, FICS, 2014
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nd4
The Blackburne Shilling Gambit.
4.Bxf7+
The Blackburne Shilling Jerome Gambit.
4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Ke6 6.c3
The standard counter to Black's threat to the White Knight - threaten the Black Knight. After the "exchange" of Knights now with 6...Kxe5 7.cxd4+ there are 233 examples in The Database, and White scores 61%,
6...Nc2+
A creative idea.
7.Qxc2 Kxe5 8.d4+
Alternatives:
8.O-O Ke6 9.d3 (9.Qb3+ Ke7 10.d4 d6 11.Bg5+ Nf6 12.e5 d5 13.Nd2 h6 14.exf6+ gxf6 15.Rfe1+ Kf7 16.Bh4 c6 17.Nf3 b6 18.Ne5+ Kg7 19.Qd1 Qd6 20.Ng4 Be7 21.Rxe7+ Qxe7 22.Bxf6+ Qxf6 23.Nxf6 Kxf6 24.Qf3+ Kg6 25.Qf4 Re8 26.h4 Re4 27.h5+ Kxh5 28.Qf7+ Kg5 29.f3 Re6 30.Kf2 Rg6 31.Rh1 Be6 32.f4+ Black resigned, Coaque - Nikilady, FICS, 2012) 9...Kf7 10.Be3 d6 11.Nd2 Nf6 12.Qb3+ Ke8 13.Rfe1 Be7 14.Bd4 Rf8 15.e5 Ng4 16.e6 c6 17.Qd1 Nf6 18.Qa4 Qc7 19.c4 d5 20.g3 Kd8 21.c5 g6 22.Be5 Qxe5 23.Rxe5 Bxc5 24.e7+ Bxe7 25.Rxe7 Kxe7 26.Re1+ Kf7 27.Nf3 Bf5 28.Qb4 Rfe8 29.Qxb7+ Kg8 30.Rxe8+ Rxe8 31.Qxc6 Kg7 32.Qc7+ Kh6 33.Ne5 Rc8 34.Qxa7 Bh3 35.Nf7+ Kh5 36.Qe3 Black resigned, Coaque - Nikilady, FICS, 2012.
Tricky, suggested by Stockfish 6, is 8. f4+!? Kf6 (8...Kxf4? 9.d4+ Kg4 10.Qe2+ Kh4 11.g3+ Kh3 12.Qf1+ Kg4 13.Qf5#) 9.d4 equal.
8...Ke6
Black's King is wise to head toward home.
White's center pawns balance Black's extra piece.
9.d5+
Again, not the only idea:
9.Qb3+ d5 10.exd5+ (10.O-O c6 11.exd5+ Qxd5 12.c4 Qxd4 13.Re1+ Kf7 14.Be3 Qf6 15.Nc3 Bd6 16.Ne4 Qe7 17.c5+ Be6 18.Nxd6+ Kf8 19.Qb4 Rb8 20.Bf4 b5 21.Nf5 Qf6 22.Bd6+ Kf7 23.Nxg7 Qxg7 24.Bxb8 Nf6 25.Be5 Rg8 26.g3 Bd5 27.Qf4 h5 28.Bd6 Kg6 29.Re7 Qh8 30.h4 Qh6 31.Qd4 Ng4 32.Rae1 Rf8 33.Qd3+ Rf5 34.Bf4 Qf8 35.f3 Bxf3 36.R1e6+ Nf6 37.Qxf3 Rd5 38.Qe4+ Rf5 39.g4 hxg4 40.h5+ Kxh5 41.Qxf5+ Kh4 42.Qg5+ Kh3 43.Re3+ g3 44.Qxg3 checkmate, graniglia - Knightslider, FICS, 2000) 10...Qxd5 11.Qc2 Qxg2 12.Qe2+ Kd7 13.Rf1 Kd8 14.Nd2 Qxh2 15.Nf3 Qd6 16.Bg5+ Be7 17.Bxe7+ Qxe7 18.Ne5 Be6 19.O-O-O c6 20.f4 Kc7 21.Rde1 Nh6 22.Nc4 Rhe8 Black won by adjudication, ralte - Nikilady, FICS, 2012.
Stockfish 6 suggests the reasonable 9.O-O.
9...Kf7 10.f4
Continuing with the "central pawn" theme, but Black has a counter that begins to sway things in his favor.
Two other ideas:
10.O-O Nf6 11.f4 (11.e5 Nxd5 12.c4 Nb4 13.Qf5+ Kg8 14.a3 g6 15.Qe4 Nc6 16.Rd1 Bg7 17.f4 Qe7 18.Nc3 Qc5+ 19.Kh1 d5 20.exd6 cxd6 21.Qe8+ Bf8 22.Nd5 Rb8 23.f5 Bxf5 24.Qe2 Bg7 25.b4 Nxb4 26.Ne7+ Kf7 27.Nxf5 gxf5 28.axb4 Qxb4 29.Ba3 Rbe8 30.Qh5+, Black resigned, Darrenshome - tomcatx, FICS, 2010) 11...Bc5+ 12.Kh1 Ng4 13.b4 Bb6 14.c4 Bd4 15.Bb2 Ne3 16.Qe2 Bxb2 17.Qxb2 Nxf1 18.Nd2 Nxd2 19.Qxd2 d6 White resigned, jesusramon - ninofaca, FICS, 2014;
10.e5 Ne7 11.Bg5 Kg8 12.d6 cxd6 13.exd6 h6 14.dxe7 Bxe7 15.Bxe7 Qxe7+ 16.Kd1 d5 17.Re1 Qf7 18.Qa4 Kh7 19.Nd2 Qxf2 20.Kc2 Bf5+ 21.Kc1 Qxe1+ 22.Qd1 Rhe8 23. Qxe1 Rxe1 checkmate, HomogenousMass - jantonacci, FICS, 2009.
10...Qh4+ 11.g3 Qh3 12.Qf2 d6 13.Nd2 Bg4 14.Nc4 b5 15.Ne3 Nf6 16.Nxg4 Qxg4
White has dealt with threats on the Kingside, but that has taken time. As a result, his King is not yet castled - something that puts his center "Jerome pawns" (and their advance) at risk. The little things add up.
17.h3 Qd7 18.e5 dxe5 19.fxe5 Re8 20.Be3 Rxe5 21.O-O Kg8
After the final center pawn disappears, White's game collapses.
22.Bd4 Rxd5 23.Qe2 Bd6 24.c4 Rxd4 25.Rfd1 Bc5 26.Kh2 Ne4
27.Qe3 Rxd1 White resigned
White has lost material and is near checkmate.
Sometimes it is a good idea to be familiar with a line that leads to checkmate. You never know when it might show up on the board.
doubleabood - forland
blitz. FICS, 2014
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nd4 4.Bxf7+
The Blackburne Shilling Jerome Gambit.
4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Ke6 6.c3 Qg5
Black continues as if nothing has happened (6...Kxe5 is best), playing the thematic move of the Blackburne Shilling Gambit. As I've pointed out previously, with more and more insistance, (see "Reeling Sequel", "Finishing It Off Smartly", "Still A Bad Idea" and "Calling Black's Bluff"), White should take heart and proceed with his game - Black is headed toward his own checkmate.
Admittedly, not every player of the White pieces has been aware of his or her good fortune. Of the 50 games with this position in The Database, for example, White scored only 59%.
7.cxd4 Qxg2
Black strikes! Well, sort of. With 35 games in The Database, White scored 61%.
8.Qb3+
The key! Checkmate is forced.
White won in 7 of 9 games with this position in The Database (78%) but his two losses were time forfeits in winning positions.
That's better.
8...Kf6
Or
8...Ke7 9.Qf7+ Kd6 10.Qd5+ [10.Nc4+ Kc6 11.Qd5 checkmate, jfhumphrey - jordibc, FICS, 2011] 10...Ke7 11.Qf7+ Kd6 12.Nc4+ Black resigned, ScottWeatherill- Hanjh, FICS, 2013;
8...d5 9.exd5+ [9.Qxd5+ Kf6 10.Qf7+ Kg5 11.h4+ Kh6 12.d3+ g5 13.hxg5#] Ke7 10.Qf3 Qxf3 11.Nxf3 Nf6 12.Nc3 Bg4 13.Ne5 Re8 14.f3 Bh5 15.Kf2 Kd6 16.d3 Nxd5 17.Nb5+ Ke7 18.Bg5+ Nf6 19.Rhe1 c6 20.Nxc6+ Kf7 21.Rxe8 Nxe8 22.Ncxa7 Bb4 23.a3 Ba5 24.b4 Bb6 25.Rc1 Bxa7 26.Nxa7 Nd6 27.Rc7+ Kg6 28.Bf4 Nf5 29.Rxb7 Rf8 30.Rb6+ Kf7 31.d5 Nd4 32.d6 Kg8 33.d7 Bxf3 34.Rb8 Ne6 35.Rxf8+ Kxf8 36.Kxf3 Ke7 37.Bg3 Kxd7 White forfeited on time, ReallyBadPlayer - skipi, FICS, 2006;
8...Kd6 9.Qd5+ Ke7 10.Qf7+ Kd6 11.Nc4+ Kc6 12.Qd5 checkmate, XprezzChezz - borodin, FICS, 2009.
9.Qf7+ Kg5 10.d3+ Kh4 11.Nf3+
Or 11.Qf4+ Kh3 12.Qg3+ Qxg3 13.hxg3+ Kg2 14.Rf1 Bb4+ 15.Ke2 d6 16.Nf7 Be6 17.Ng5 Bd7 18.Nc3 Nf6 19.Bd2 h6 20.Rh1 Bg4+ 21.Ke3 Nd5+ 22.exd5 Rae8+ 23.Kf4 Rhf8+ 24.Kxg4 h5+ 25.Kxh5 Kxf2 White forfeited on time, MATCHAPULANE - gregchess, FICS, 2012.
11...Kh3
Or 11...Kg4 12.Qf5 checkmate, DVYate - transalcolico, standard, FICS, 2013 and Oak - sealse, blitz, FICS, 2013.
12.Qh5 checkmate.
This is also how GOH - boggus, blitz, FICS, 2011 ended
With almost 300 games in The Database, Bill Wall does two things very well: experiment and win. The following strange game has only 50% of that, however.
It contains enough excitement for a half-dozen games. It is well worth close examination.
Wall, Bill - Vilmos
PlayChess.com, 2014
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+
4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ng6 7.Qf5+
So many of Bill's games include moves that prompt the response "He can't do that, can he?". Here Bill plays with the "nudge" in this line, which usually appears as 7.Qd5+ (or doesn't appear at all, as in 7.Qxc5).
Anyone wishing to follow in Bill's footsteps will need to study this game closely.
7...Qf6
Offering to exchange Queens is natural, but, as White's plans to move on, 7... Nf6 might be a bit stronger.
8.Qxc5 d6
Not surprisingly, Bill has been this way before:
8...Nf4 was seen in Wall,B - Tony7, PlayChess.com, 2011, (1-0, 48);
8...N8e7 was seen in Wall,B - Doantaung, Chess.com, 2010 (1-0, 18); and
8...c6 9.O-O Nh6 10.d4 d6 11.Qc4+ Be6 12.Qb4 Qe7 13.Bxh6 gxh6 14.f4 Nf8 15.f5 Bc8 16.Nd2 b5 17.Qb3+ Ke8 18.Qc3 Bb7 19.f6 Qf7 20.e5 dxe5 21.dxe5 Ne6 22.Ne4 Kd7 23.Nd6 Black resigned, Wall,B - Smith,R, Chess.com, 2010.
9.Qxc7+ N8e7 10.O-O Rd8
This offer of a Rook is a very, very strange move. I hope Bill appreciated it. (I hope it was not simply a "blunder" by Black.)
Previously Bill had met 10...Be6 in Wall,B - Guest2900292, PlayChess.com, 2012 (1-0, 24).
The move 10...Nf4!? leads to crazy complications, but is the way to go if Black wants to try to win. A sample: 11.d3 Nxg2 12.e5 (12.Kxg2 Bh3+ 13.Kg3 [13.Kxh3? Qf3+ mates] 13...Rhc8 14.Qa5 Rc5 15.Qxc5 dxc5 Black is winning) 12...dxe5 13.Nc3 Nh4 14.Ne4 Qc6 15.Qxc6 Nxc6 16.f4 Kg6 17.fxe5 Bg4 18.Bd2 Nxe5 when Black has a piece for a pawn, and White's compensation is lacking.
11. Qxd8 Nh4
Shades of Blackburne's double Rook sacrifice, Black also had 11...Bh3!? 12.Qxa8 Nh4 13.Qxb7 Nf3+ 14.Kh1 Bxg2+ 15.Kxg2 Nh4+ 16.Kg3 Qf3+ 17.Kxh4 Qf4+ 18.Kh3 Qf3+ although it only leads to a draw.
The move in the game should lead to the same result.
12.f3
Stockfish 6 recommends, instead, 12.f4, leading eventually to a draw, but the analysis can go on for a long time, and the position is tactically rich. Here is a sampling:
12.f4 Qg6 (12...Bh3 13.Qa5 [13.Qxa8? Qg6 mates] 13...Bxg2 14.Qh5+ g6 15.Qe2 Bxf1 16.Qxf1 Qd4+ 17.Qf2 d5 White has an edge) 13.Rf2 Nxg2 (13...Bh3 14.Qa5 [14.Qxa8? allows mate after 14...Nxg2] 14...Nf3+ 15.Kf1 Nxh2+ 16.Kg1 Nf3+ 17.Kf1 Nh2+ draw) 14.f5 Bxf5 15.Rxg2 (15.exf5 Qg4 16.h3 [16.Qxa8? Ne3+ mates] 16...Qg3 17.Qxe7+ [17.Qxa8 Ne3+ 18.Kh1 Qxh3+ mates] 17...Kxe7 18.Rxg2 Qe1+ 19.Kh2 Qxc1 20.Rxg7+ Kf8 21.Rg1 Qxc2 Black is better; or 15.Rxf5+ Ke6 16.Qxa8 Nh4+ 17.Kf1 Qg2+ 18.Ke1 Qxe4+ 19.Kd1 Qh1+ 20.Ke2 Nhxf5 21.c3 Nh4 22.Qf8 Qxc1 Black is better) 15...Qxg2+ 16.Kxg2 Bxe4+ 17.Kf2 Rxd8 18.d3 Bc6 even game.
12...Bh3 13.Qa5
The strongest move. White does not wish to be "Blackburned."
13...Bxg2
Black slips, or perhaps his heart has had enough excitement and he is looking for the draw. After 13...Qg6!? 14.g3 Bxf1 15. Kxf1 Nxf3 16.Kf2 Nd4 Black has enough threats to not only balance his 2-pawn deficit, he holds an advantage. Crazy!
14.Rf2 Qg6 15.d3 d5 16.Nd2 Bh3+ 17.Kh1 Bg2+ 18.Kg1 Bh3+ Draw
