Jerome Gambit: Just. Don't.

Black has many defenses to the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+), some focused on returning one of the two gambitted pieces. In the following game, Bill Wall faces one that he has encountered - and defeated - 20 times previously. I suspect his advice to his opponent would be: Just. Don't.

Wall, Bill - NN
Florida, 2019

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.d4 Bd6 

Not the best defense: the game is already even, according to Stockfish 10, even though Black is two pieces ahead.

7.dxe5 Bxe5

This move is a troublesome companion to the previous one, shifting the evaluation of the game to White's favor. According to The Database, out of 160 games, Black played this move 139 times.

8.Qd5+

The proper response.

8...Kf6

He is not going to be able to save the Bishop, but retreating the King is not much better.

9.f4 c6 

10.fxe5+

An improvement over 10.Qxe5+, which still won for White in Wall,B - Neilson,C, Melbourne, FL 2016, (1-0, 24). 

10... Ke7 11.Qd3 Qa5+ 12.Nc3 Qxe5 

Material is even, but development and King safety are not. 

13.O-O h6 

Keeping White's Bishop off of g5, but hastening the end.

14.Bf4 Qc5+ 15.Be3 Qh5 16.e5 Ke8 17.Ne4 Ne7 18.Nd6+
Kd8 19.Nf7+ Black resigned

Nice.

Jerome Gambit: Disease 1, Cure 0

If you are playing Black, and you are surprised by your opponent, it is tempting to try and fix the problem by, in turn, unleashing your own surprise. This is often risky, however, as it is not at all clear that you will not get deeper into trouble.

Wall, Bill - Guest753529
PlayChess.com, 2019

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Ke8 

The major problem with this move is that it leads to a position that Black is not prepared to deal with. He may have planned to "take White out of his book" by refusing to play the "normal" 5...Nxe5, but this is one of the cases where the "cure" is worse than the "disease".

6.Nxc6 dxc6

Instead, 6...bxc6 7.Qh5+ g6 8.Qxc5 Ne7 9.Qc3 Black resigned, Wall, Bill -Qwerty, PlayChess.com, 2010.

Best is still the unplayed 6...Qh4!? 

7.Qh5+ Kd7 

Bill has also faced 7...Kf8 in Wall, Bill - Gebba, Chess.com, 2010 (1-0, 11) and Wall, Bill - Guest8678247, PlayChess.com, 2019 (1-0, 24); as well as 7...g6 in Wall, Bill - Tedah, lichess.com, 2016 (1-0, 13) and Wall, Bill - Guest2781227, PlayChess.com, 2018 (1-0, 18). 

8.Qxc5 Nf6 9.d3 b6 10.Qg5 Qe7 11.O-O Ba6 12.Nc3 h6 

Black pushes back, but he is a couple of pawns down, and White has too much play.

13.Qf5+ Kd8 14.Be3 Rf8 15.f4 Nd5 

At first glance, this looks scarier than it actually is. White has an effective response.

16.Nxd5 Rxf5 17.Nxe7 Kxe7 18.exf5 Black resigned

White is now two pawns and a Rook better.

Jerome Gambit: Lost In The Weeds

The following Jerome Gambit game is another example of a defender doing well, objectively, until he gets lost in the weeds, off the beaten path...

Wall, Bill - Guest4241
ChessTempo, 2019

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5. Nxe5+ Nxe5 6. d4 Bxd4 

Simple and straight forward.

7.Qxd4 Qf6 

Funny: the threat is 8...Nf3+, winning White's Queen. It is as old as Jerome - Norton, correspondence, 1876 (unfinished). The move is no surprise, though, to Bill: he has faced it 20 times.

8.Nd2 d6 9.O-O Ne7 10.f4 N5c6 

Black is doing well. He needs a plan. The plan should be based on the needs of the position. White should mess with all that assessment and calculation.

11.Qc4+ 

This is something new, according to The Database. Sometimes, Bill likes to take the game even further off the beaten path.

11...Be6 12.Qb5 Qd4+ 13.Rf2 b6 

Just the kind of thing that White has been looking for.

Of course, Black could have played 13...Qb6, protecting his b-pawn and offering to exchange Queens, but he probably skipped that line because he saw himself as being on the attack, so having his Queen would be valuable. (Besides, White would have responded with 14.Qe2.)

The thing is, Black's b-pawn is not really in danger, as 13...a6 14.Qxb7? Ra7 would show. A more measured response by White would still show that Black is better: 14.Qe2 Kg8 15.Nf3 Qf6.

14.Nf3 Qxe4 

Throwing the game away. It is humorous to see that Stockfish 10 recommends as best, instead, the Queen swap 14...Qc4 15.Qxc4 Bxc4 - something Black has been avoiding.

15.Ng5+ Kg6 16.Nxe4 Black resigned

Jerome Gambit: Learn From Your Games

It is a good idea to play over your games, win or lose. You can pick up tactical tricks that you missed during the contest. You can learn more about your openings and prepare for the next time they show up on the board.

The following game is a good example. Bill's experience with the Jerome Gambit is significant, and his experience with the particular defense that his opponent constructed means that the number of moves that were "new" was quite small. 

Wall, Bill - MYGZ
FICS, 2019

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.d4 Bb4+ 

This is a reasonable way to deal with White's pawn fork: Black will move one piece and return the other for a pawn. The Database has 314 game examples; White scores 57%. (Since there are 2,018 games with the position after 6.d4, where White scores 55%, Black's choice in this game - from a practical point of view - is, if anything, better than average.)

7.c3 Bxc3+

Bill has already seen 7...Be7 8.dxe5 Nh6 9.Qf3+ Ke6 10.Bxh6 gxh6 11.Qf5 checkmate, Wall, Bill - ChrSav, FICS, 2010.

8.Nxc3 Ng6 

Instead, 8...Nc6 was seen in Wall, Bill - Caynaboos, FICS, 2011 (1-0, 26) and Wall, Bill - ChessFlower, PlayChess.com, 2012 (1-0, 27).

9.O-O Nf6 

Black tried 9...N8e7 in Wall, Bill - NN, lichess.org, 2016 (1-0, 18) and Wall, Bill - Jamato, lichess.org, 2017 (1-0, 55).

10.e5

An improvement over 10.Bg5, as in Wall, Bill - Shatskov, lichess.org, 2016 (1-0, 16).

10...Ne8

No more effective was 10...Ng8, seen in Wall, Bill - Guest2372880, lichess.org, 2018: 11.f4 d6 12.e6+ Bxe6 13.f5 Bxf5 14.Rxf5+ Nf6 15.Qb3+ Ke8 16.Bg5 Rf8 17.Re1+ Ne7 18.Bxf6 Rxf6 19.Rxf6 gxf6 20.Nd5 f5 21.Nxe7 Qxe7 22.Qg8+ Kd7 23.Rxe7+ Kxe7 24.Qxa8 Black resigned

11.f4

Stronger than 11.Qf3+, seen in Wall, Bill - Boris, SparkChess.com, 2012 (1-0, 31).

11...Rf8

12.f5 Ne7 

This loses quickly, but the "best" move, 12...Kg8, just tosses a piece.

13.Qb3+ d5 14.exd6+ 

Here, Black resigned in Wall, Bill - FJBS, FICS, 2015.

14...Kf6 15.Ne4 checkmate

Jerome Gambit: No Slow Mo

The following Jerome Gambit game was played at a time control of one minute, no increment. Yet, it plays like one conducted at a much slower pace - absent the wild flying and dropped pieces. It appears to be a serious Jerome - if there is such  a thing.

angelcamina - Skulmar
1 0 bullet, lichess.org, 2019

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ng6 

7.Qd5+ Kf8 8.Qxc5+ d6 9.Qe3 Qf6 

Sometimes the Queen belongs here, sometimes it doesn't. Black builds a do-it-yourself defense.

10.O-O N8e7 11.f4 Kg8 

12.d4 h6 13.f5 Nf8 14.Nc3 Kh7 15.Bd2 Rg8 

Interesting. When the "Jerome pawns" start rolling, the game will become a fine battle.

16.Rae1 b6 17.Ne2 Ba6 18.b3 Re8 19.c4 Nd7 

20.Bc3 Qg5 21.Qd2 Qxd2 22.Bxd2 Nf6 23.Ng3 c5 24.e5 dxe5 25.dxe5 Ng4 26.h3 Nxe5 27.Rxe5 Bb7 

Black has returned the sacrificed piece, and does not appear concerned about being a pawn down - his King is well-placed for defense, and the Bishops-of-opposite-colors suggest a draw is possible.

Unfortunately, he has overlooked something, as White immediately shows. After recovering the piece, angelcamina shows that opposite colors Bishop middle games are often not drawn.

28.Rfe1 Bc6 29.Rxe7 Rxe7 30.Rxe7 Rf8 31.Bf4 Rf6 32.Be5 Rf8 33.Rxg7+ Kh8 34.Rxa7+ Kg8 35.Rg7+ Kh8 36.Rc7+ Kg8 37.Rxc6 Kf7 38.Rg6 Black resigned

Jerome Gambit: Top Speed

The following game is a good example of the excitement of the Jerome Gambit, played at top speed - 1 minute, no increment, time control.

angelcamina - shabba96jnr
1 0 bullet, lichess.org, 2019

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ng6 

7.Qd5+ Ke8 8.Qxc5

angelcamina has reached this position previously, winning all 7 games.

8...Qe7 9.Qe3 

Stockfish 10 recommends, instead, 9.Qxe7+, although that is not angelcamina's style. The Database indicates the move was played in 9 games, and White was 8-0-1.

9...Nf6 10.Nc3 Rf8 

According to The Database, this is a novelty, but the game will ranspose to earlier lines after 11...d6. 

11.O-O d6 

12.f4 Ng4 13.Qf3 Nf6 14.d4 Bg4  

When in doubt, attack White's Queen. It is surprising how often this advice fails in the Jerome Gambit.

15.Qd3 Bd7 16.b3 Bc6 17.d5 Bd7 18.Ba3 Ng8 

Anticipating the advance of the "Jerome pawns".

19.Rae1 Kd8 20.e5 Kc8 21.e6 

21...Nf6 22.exd7+ Qxd7 23.f5 Ne5 

Allowing a nice, tactical finish.

24.Rxe5 dxe5 25.Bxf8
Black resigned

Black is down a piece and a pawn; he is behind in development; and his King is less safe.