Optical Illusion (I)

I've think there must be some kind of optical illusion in one variation of the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) – either that, or maybe people sometimes play blitz chess a little bit too fast for their own observational abilities.

How else to explain the following game?


perrypawnpusher - Estebang
blitz game 2 12, FICS, 2009

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7

5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ke6 7.Qf5+ Kd6 8.f4 Qf6
Black follows one of the Jerome Gambit refutations first set out in Alonzo Wheeler Jerome's analysis published in the Dubuque Chess Journal in April 1874. (Of course AWJ didn't see it as a refutation.)
9.fxe5+ Qxe5 10.Qf3 Nf6 11.d3


Black's Queen exerts pressure along the a1-h8 diagonal: if the dark-squared White Bishop should move, there can come ...Qxb2 and then ...Qxa1.

In this position against me, Rossgil (forthcoming) played 11...Bd4, focusing on that diagonal; BronxBoyII played 11...Rf8, drawing bead on my Queen; and ViennaMike played 11...Bb4+, to exploit a second diagonal, a4-e1.

11...Re8 12.Bf4


Awkward.

12...Qxf4 13.Qxf4+ Ke7

Black's game never quite recovers.

14.Qe5+ Kf8 15.Qxc5+ Kg8 16.Nc3 c6 17.e5 Ng4 18.d4 b6 19.Qc4+ Kf8 20.0-0+ Ke7 21.Qf7+ Kd8 22.Qxg7 Ne3 23.Qg5+ Kc7 24.Qxe3 d6 25.exd6+ Kd7 26.Rf7+ Kd8 27.Qg5+ Re7 28.Qxe7 checkmate