Jerome Gambit: Drilling Down (27)

Again the tame 7...d6 defense holds up for Black, and the tactical wiles of the computer strike before the human can take it down.

RevvedUp - Shredder 8
blitz 2 12, 2006

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ke6

7.f4 d6 8.fxe5 dxe5 9.Qh3+
A move as old as the 1993 Fisher-Kirshner - Knightstalker match (see "A Few Words With... Micah Fisher-Kirshner"). The alternative 9.Rf1 appeared in Fritz 8 - RevvedUp and RevvedUp - Hiarcs 8.

9...Kf7 10.Qh5+ g6
In 2006 I heard from Jeroen_61 of the Netherlands, who emailed me

Some time ago when Hiarcs 8 was released after receiving my copy I ran some small tournaments to see how things would go with Hiarcs. Other participants were Junior 7, Shredder Paderdorn (6.02) and Fritz 7. One of the tournaments I conducted with - the Jerome gambit as opening. They are games 40/40' + 40/40' + 40' (round robin two rounds, so 12 games in all). Only two were won by the white side.

Six of the games featured this line of play in RevvedUp - Shredder 8. (All were posted at a website that Jeroen_61 gave, although an attempt to use the url today got me the message De pagina is niet gevonden, which probably means just what it looks like.)
11.Qxe5
Oddly enough, the position is identical to that of the Blackburne line 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 7.Qh5+ g6 7.Qxe5 (see ''Nobody expects the Jerome Gambit!") except that Black's d-pawn is missing. This difference is probably in the second player's favor.

11...Bd4 12.Qf4+ Nf6
One reason not to use only database statistics in evaluating a position can be seen by the fact that I have 52 wins by White from this position, all computer games from Randy Tipton at HANGING PAWN :: Tip's Chess Blog (see "We are not alone..."). Of course, he only provided me with the Jerome Gambit wins, not the whole package of games.

13.c3

A "TN", but it is a prelude to a tactical oversight by RevvedUp.
13...Re8 14.cxd4 Rxe4+ White resigns