It helps to know the basics of the opening variations that you are playing. Here, Bill Wall has plenty of experience with the Jerome Gambit. But he also has plenty of experience in transitioning to an advantageous endgame, and then winning it.
Wall, Bill - Jamato
lichess.org, 2017
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+
4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.d4 Bb4+ 7.c3 Bxc3+
Or 7...Be7 as in Wall,B - ChrSav, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 11).
8.Nxc3 Ng6
Instead, 8...Nc6 was seen in Wall,B - Caynaboos, FICS, 2011 (1-0, 26) and Wall,B - ChessFlower, PlayChess.com, 2012 (1-0, 27)
9.O-O N8e7
Or 9...Nf6 as seen in Wall,B - Boris, SparkChess.com, 2012 (1-0, 31) and Wall,B - FJBS, FICS 2015 (1-0, 14).
10.f4 Re8
Bill has also faced 10...Rf8 in Wall,B - NN, lichess.org, 2016 (1-0, 18)
11.Qb3+ d5 12.f5 Nf8 13.Bg5 c6 14.f6 gxf6 15.Bxf6 Kg8
Surprisingly enough, at this point Bill is ready to let the air out of the position and win the endgame. His opponent trys to tag along, but can not.
16.exd5 cxd5 17.Bxe7 Rxe7 18.Nxd5 Be6 19.Nxe7+ Qxe7 20.Rae1 Qd6
There were better chances to hold the game after 20...Bxb3 21.Rxe7 Bd5.
21.Rxf8+ Rxf8 22.Qxe6+ Qxe6 23.Rxe6 Rf7 24.d5 Rd7 25.d6 Kf7 26.Re7+ Rxe7 27.dxe7 Kxe7
The game is only half over, but it is over.
28.Kf2 b5 29.Ke3 a5 30.Kd4 Kd6 31.g4 h6 32.h4 b4 33.b3 Ke6 34.Kc5 Ke5 35.Kb5 Kf4 36.g5 hxg5 37.hxg5 Kxg5 38.Kxa5 Kf6 39.Kxb4 Ke6 40.Kb5 Kd6 41.Kb6 Kd7 42.a4 Kc8 43.a5 Kb8 44.b4 Ka8 45.Kc7 Ka7 46.b5 Ka8 47.a6 Ka7 48.Kc6 Ka8 49.b6 Kb8 50.a7+ Ka8 51.b7+ Kxa7 52.Kc7 Ka6 53.b8=Q Ka5 54.Qb3 Ka6 55.Qb6 checkmate.
Sometimes the Jerome Gambit looks so easy to play. I know that it's not - but, sometimes...
Wall, Bill - Minaevm
lichess.org, 2017
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+
4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.d4 Bb4+ 7.c3 Bxc3+ 8.Nxc3 Nc4
9.Qh5+ g6 10.Qd5+ Kf8 11.Qxc4 Ne7 12.Bh6+ Ke8 13.Nb5 c6
14.Nd6 checkmate
With attacks on both wings, the following game is an interesting example of who "gets there the firstest with the mostest".
The final position is very impressive, and bears close examination.
Wall, Bill - Facundo
lichess.org, 2017
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+
4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.d4
6...Bxd4 7.Qxd4
d6 8.Nc3 Nf6 9.f3 Re8
It looks like Bill wants to hold the center with f2-f3 and castle Queenside. He does - but that also leaves him open to start a pawn storm on the Kingside.
10.Bf4 Nc6 11.Qf2 Be6 12.O-O-O Qe7 13.h4 a5
Black likes the idea, too.
14.h5
h6 15.g4 a4 16.g5 hxg5 17.Bxg5 a3 18.b3 Bd7 19.h6 g6
Hoping to close things down on the Kingside, but the move overlooks play in the center. Stockfish 8 suggests 19...Qe5 20.Qd2 Rh8, although White can maintain play, it suggests, with 21.Rhe1 gxh6 22.f4 Nxe4 23.fxe5 Nxd2 24.Bxd2 Nxe5 and a drawn ending with Bishops-of-opposite-colors is one possibility.
20.Nd5 Qe5 21.Bxf6 Black resigned
A rather impressive position: Black's Queen is dominated by White's Knight and Bishop!
Her Majesty can escape attack with 21...Qe6, but then 22.h7!? follows. Black can offer the exchange with 22...Rh8, but White has no interest in the material, and can play 23.Qg3!? with the idea of Rh6, attacking the Black g-pawn, to follow. The defense of the pawn with 23...Ne7 simply drops a piece to 24.Bxe7, and the "counter-attack" 24...Qe5 25.Qh4 Qb2+ is an illusion, as after 26.Kd2 Qd4+ 27.Ke2 White's King is safe, and Black's will come under attack again.
Chessfriend Vlasta Fejfar of the Czech Republic has faced the "annoying defense" to the Jerome Gambit a number of times. In the following game, his most recent, he comes away with the whole point.
Vlastous - Idalgit
Internet, 2017
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+
4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ke6 7.f4 d6
This is also called the "silicon defense" because it is the choice of many computer chess programs. Black returns a piece and takes a lot of the action out of the position.
8.fxe5 dxe5 9.Qh3+ Kf7
The text is about equal to 9...Ke7 which was seen in Fejfar,V -Goc,P, 2015 (1/2 - 1/2, 70), Fejfar,V - Chvojka, correspondence, 2016 (0-1, 32) and Vlastous - irinat, Chessmaniac, 2016 (0-1, 38).
10.Qh5+ Ke6 11.Qe2
Stockfish 8 gives the practical suggestion 11.Qh3+ hoping for a draw by repetition.
11...Qd6
Instead, 11...Ke7 was successful for Black in Wall,B - Alfil engine, Palm Bay, FL 2015 (0-1, 23); while 11...Nf6 was seen in Shredder 8 - RevvedUp, blitz 2 12, 2006 (1-0, 25) and RevvedUp - Yace Paderborn, blitz2 12, 2006 (0-1, 14).
12.Nc3
c6 13.Na4 Nf6
A tactical slip that drops a piece. Black may have unconsciously decided that his opponent has finished moving his Queen.
14.Qc4+ Ke7 15.Nxc5 b6 16.Nd3 a5 17.Qc3 Ke6
18.Qb3+ Black resigned
Perhaps a bit soon, but Black sees he will lose the b-pawn, and White's Queen will escape any danger, so the game may have lost its interest.
I enjoyed looking at positions in the Jerome Gambit with the help of Stockfish 8 - to the depth of 30 ply - that I thought I would look at a few of the classical defenses and see what turns up.
My first surprise came in Blackburne's Defense.
dj222 - invincible1
GameKnot.com, 2003
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+
4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ g6 7.Qxe5 d6
Blackburne's Defense. It is a complicated, tactical mess. Initially thought to favor Black, and then to favor White, the current assessment has been that it leads to a complicated draw that either player avoids at his own peril. But, maybe it favors White after all.
8.Qxh8 Qh4 9.d4
See "Traps and Zaps" for some background. The move was suggested in the notes to Amateur - Blackburne, London, 1885, but given scant attention afterward.
Far more often played is 9.0-0. Although White won in Chandler - Dimitrov, 2004, analysis supported a complicated drawn game.
9...Nf6
Black ignores the danger his Bishop is in. Only one game in The Database has this move, which is Stockfish 8's top choce.
It is hard for Black not to plump for 9...Qxe4+ 10.Be3 Qxg2 with complications, but the text is the second player's best option.
Check out "Opening Traps by GM Ferzbery" for a look.
10.Nd2
White does not go after the enemy Bishop, but keeps White's Queen away from e4.
10...Bxd4 11.Rf1
It was probably best to play 11.0-0 here, and ride out the storm after 11...Qxh2+ 12.Kxh2 Ng4+ 13.Kg3 Bxh8, coming out the exchange ahead.
11...Bh3
Recovering a pawn and offering a Rook while threatening White's Queen! Unfortunately, it is a mistake: Black had better in 11...b6 with the idea of 12...Ba6 and a very complicated, but balanced, game.
12.Qxa8 Bxg2 13.Qxb7 Bxf1 14.Qb3+ Ke7 15.Qg3
White's Queen returns in time to save the King.
15...Qxg3 16.hxg3 Bg2 17.f3 Bh3 Black resigned
My last comment about the Chess.com Giuoco Piano thematic tournament that I most recently played in (see "Unlinked") was a bit melancholy
And - I'm sitting on top of the standings in the Chess.com Giuoco Piano tournament, one point ahead of the field (thanks, in part, to the Jerome Gambit). However, IlToscano has two games left, so he can catch and pass me...
Surprisingly, once again (see "An Unexpected Success") the competition was fierce enough amongst other players that it turns out that nobody will be able to catch me after all (there are a couple of games not yet finished).
Another inexplicable first place finish, assisted by a 7-2 record with the Jerome Gambit.
First, we need to recall Geoff Chandler's very useful and very practical chart.
Here is a one-move blunder table showing how severe the blunder needs to be in a game between two players of the same grade.
All players should be able to spot their opponent leaving a mate in one on.
A 1200 player should win if an opponent blunders a Queen or a Rook. But not necessarily if they pick up a Bishop or Knight.
1500 players often convert piece-up games into a win, but this is not the case if a pawn or two up.
An 1800 player usually wins if they are two pawns up.
In a game between two 2000+ players a blundered pawn is usually enough to win.
This chart immediately addresses a couple of questions:
Q: Why do masters not play the Jerome Gambit?
A: According to Chandler, a pawn advantage is enough for a master to win the game. In the Jerome, White sacrifices one or two pieces, and Stockfish 8 evaluates the position with 4.Bxf7+ as giving Black a 1.85 pawn advantage. That would be self-injurious in a master vs master game.
Q: So why is it that, according to The Database, White scores 45% after 4.Bxf7+ ?
A: Recall that The Database contains primarily club-level games played on the internet. We can see from Chandler's chart that players rated 1200 and 1500 often need more than "almost two pawns" to win. Even an 1800 rated player only "usually" wins when two pawns up - and the Jerome Gambit sacrifices 1.85. The errors of the Jerome Gambit fit right in with the errors of club play.
What else?
Both practice and computer analysis (as well as common sense) strongly suggest that Black should accept the Bishop after 4.Bxf7+. To refuse it is to give White a better (but not necessarily winning) game.
Black should also accept the Knight after 5.Nxe5+ (Stockfish 8's top choice for White here, at 30 ply search; although it rates almost as good 5.0-0, 5.c3, 5.d3, 5.Qe2 and 5.Nc3.) Best play is for the defender to be brave, but that does not always come easy for club players.
Practical play and computer analysis suggest that White garners further risk in playing the Italian Four Knights Jerome Gambit, as opposed to the main line classical variation.
The Database and Stockfish 8 slightly prefer 6.Qh5+ over 6.d4, but only slightly. It is worth being comfortable with both.
Both the Semi-Italian Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 h6 4.0-0 Bc5 5.Bxf7+) and the Blackburne Shilling Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nd4 4.Bxf7+) improve White's chances over the main line Jerome Gambit, according to both The Database and Stockfish 8.
Based on practice, Black defends best against 6.Qh5+ with 6...Kf8. Stockfish 8, instead, prefers 6...Ke6. The move 6...g6 - from Blackburne's wonderful crush of the Jerome - scores poorly according to The Database, while Stockfish 8 says it leads Black to an advantage of 1.55 pawns.
The computer's choice of 6...Ke6, which it rates as -2.42, fits in well with computers in general preferring the "annoying defense" (continuing 7.f4 d6) and pushes the defender's advantage to almost 2 1/2 pawns. It may be the complexity of the line, or it may be that it is played by weaker club players, that accounts for being less successful (per The Database) than 6...Kf8 in play.
Finally: the Jerome Gambit is a light-hearted opening for practicing attack (or defense) and performs best in casual or blitz play, or when White is giving a lesser-rated player "Jerome Gambit" odds. You are not likely to see Magnus Carlsen playing any time soon.
