Black's response to the initial moves of the Jerome Gambit in the following game is interesting. It is only his followup that gets him in trouble. As we have seen with the Jerome, even after the "refutation" there is always the possibility of "trouble".
Wall, Bill - TenAndOnly10
lichess.org, 2016
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+
4...Kxf7 5. Nxe5+ Nxe5 6. d4 Nf6
A reasonable line. We have seen TenAndOnly10 choose "A Reasonable Line" in this position before.
7.dxe5 Nxe4
Interesting: 7...Bxf2+ 8.Kxf2 Nxe4+ 9.Kg1 d5 10.Nc3 Nxc3 11.Qf3+ Ke8 12.Qxc3 Be6 13.Be3 c6 14.Rd1 Rf8 15.h3 Qh4 16.Rd4 Qg3 17.Rd3 Qg6 18.Kh2 Kd7 19.Qb4 b5 20.Qd6+ Black resigned, Wall,B - MyDrunkAccount, lichess.org, 2016.
8.Qd5+ Kf8
Alternately: 8...Ke8 9.Qxe4 Bxf2+ 10.Kxf2 Rf8+ 11.Kg1 d5 12.exd6+ Kd7 13.Nc3 Qf6 14.Bf4 g5 15.Rd1 cxd6 16.Rxd6+ Black resigned, Wall,B - NN, lichess.org, 2016
9.Qxe4 d6 10.O-O Be6 11.Nc3 a6
I don't think that Black has time for this. Is he preparing for ...Ba7?
12.Be3 Bb6
I guess not.
13.Rad1 d5
A slip. More to come.
14.Nxd5 Bxd5 15.Rxd5 Qe7 16.Bxb6 cxb6
I think my notes say that Stockfish 8 evaluated the position as: White now has a checkmate in 59 moves. Astonishing!
17.Rfd1 Qe6 18.Rd6 Qxa2 19.Qf5+ Qf7 20.Rd8+ Ke7 21.Qd7 checkmate
In the following game White's pieces swarm like mosquitoes.
Wall, Bill - LethoStark
lichess.org, 2016
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. Bxf7+
4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.d4 Ng4
A fascinating way of choosing which piece to lose.
7.dxc5
The only other two games with the 6...Ng4 move in The Database: 7.Qxg4 Bxd4 8.f4 (8.Qf5+ Nf6 9.Be3 Bxe3 10.fxe3 Rf8 11.O-O Kg8 12.Nc3 d5 13.Qe5 Re8 14.Qd4 dxe4 15.Qb4 Qd2 16.Rad1 Qxe3+ 17.Kh1 Qh6 18.Qc4+ Re6 19.Qxc7 Ng4 20.Qf7+ Black resigned, stretto - dadop, FICS, 2007) 8...d5 9.f5 Nf6 10.Qd1 Qe7 11.Qxd4 Bxf5 12.O-O Bxe4 13.Bg5 Bxc2 14.Bxf6 gxf6 15.Qxd5+ Kg7 16.Nc3 c6 17.Qd2 Bg6 18.Rae1 Qc5+ 19.Kh1 Rad8 20.Qf4 Rd6 21.Re7+ Bf7 22.Ne4 Qc4 23.Qxd6 White resigned, stretto-pasche, FICS, 2009
7...Qh4 8.Qe2 N8f6 9.Bf4 Re8 10.Nd2 d6 11.Bg3 Qg5 12.h3 Qxc5
13.hxg4 Qxc2 14.f3 Qxb2 15.O-O Qb6+ 16.Bf2 Qa5 17.Nb3 Qe5 18.Qc4+ Be6 19.Qxc7+ Re7 20.Qc1 Rc8 21.Qd2 Bc4 22.Bd4 Qg3
23.Rfc1 Be6 24.Rxc8 Bxc8 25.Bxa7 Rc7 26.Nd4 Nd7
Trouble now breaks loose.
27.Nf5 Qe5 28.Bd4 Qe6 29.Qg5 g6 30.Qd8 Rc2 31.Nh6 checkmate
In return for sacrificing one or two pieces in the Jerome Gambit, White gets some pawns. "Objectively" they are not enough compensation, but at times they can cause quite a number of problems for the defender. Witness the following game.
Wall, Bill - Chrisbow
lichess.org, 2017
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+
4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.d4 Bxd4 7.Qxd4 d6 8.O-O Nf6
And now for the pawns...
9.f4 Nc6 10.Qd3 d5 11.e5 Ne4 12.c4 Nc5
13.Qa3 b6 14.b4 Ne6 15.f5 Ned4 16.e6+ Kf6
Off to his doom! 16...Kf8 was necessary.
17.Qe3 h6 18.Bb2 dxc4 19.b5 Na5 20.Bxd4+ Ke7 21f6+ Ke8 22.fxg7 Rg8 23.Rf8+ Rxf8 24.gxf8=Q+ Kxf8 25.Qf4+ Ke8 26.Qf7 checkmate
In the following game - likely played at a fast time control - Black's aggressive move turns out to be a defensive slip, and White is able to first pressure the enemy King, then checkmate it.
Wall, Bill - Leonid
lichess.org, 2017
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+
4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.d4 Bxd4 7.Qxd4 d6
8.O-O c5 9.Qd5+ Ke7 10.Bg5+ Nf6 11.Nc3 h6 12.Bxf6+ gxf6 13.f4 Nc6 14.Rad1 Be6 15.Qd3 Qb6
Black attacks the enemy b-pawn and prepares a possible discovered check with ...c4. But he has left one of his own pawns open.
16.Qxd6+ Kf7 17.Nd5 Bxd5 18.Qxd5+ Kg7
The retreat to f8 was safer.
19.Qd7+ Kg6
Again, the safe square was f8. Running out into the open is deadly for the King.
20.f5+ Kh5 21.Qf7+ Kg4 22.Qg6+ Kh4 23.Rf4 checkmate
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.
