The Jerome Gambit: Huntin'

I guess it's a good thing that I read this Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) blog – every once-in-a-while there's something here that I can use in my own games...

perrypawnpusher - avgur
blitz 5 5, FICS, 2009

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

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ng6

7.Qd5+ Ke8 8.Qxc5 d6 9.Qe3 Nf6

10.0-0
Up to here, this is the same as perrypawnpusher - peroneal, blitz, FICS, 2009, which I analyzed a few days ago. My hope was that I had learned something.

10...Be6 11.f4 Bc4

This Bishop maneuver is reminiscent of perrypawnpusher - Kotimatka, blitz, FICS 2009, (also covered less than a week ago) but in that case I had already played d2-d4, so I didn't have the helpful reply I have here.

12.d3 Bb5 13.c4

A bit of over-thinking, here. The idea was to chase the enemy Bishop off of the a6-f1 diagonal, so I could play f4-f5 and answer Black's ...Ne5 with d3-d4. Ooops! That would leave the same c4-pawn vulnerable to capture... Luckily, I figured that out – right after I played the move, of course.

I probably would have had the same success (or more) with 13.Nc3, which also attacks the Bishop.
13...Bc6 14.f5 Ne5 15.Nc3 Qd7 16.b3 Qf7

I'm not sure what Black is doing with his Queen maneuvering, but I'm ready to get the "Jerome pawns" moving.

17.d4 Neg4 18.Qe2

Wouldn't you know it, after the game Rybka 3 preferred 18.Qg3! (Am I ever going to put the Queen on the right square?) Then Black can't win the White e-pawn without leaving his Knight on g4 hanging, while the protective 18...h5 lets White get in 19.e5. Thank you, Rybka.

18...Qe7 19.Bg5 h6 20.Bxf6

Keeping the pin with 20.Bh4 was stronger.

20...Nxf6 21.Rae1

Getting the last piece into place before advancing the pawns. White is close to even.

21...h5

Understandably, Black does not want another pawn joining the party with g2-g4, but moving the King (21...Kf7) might have been safer. Also, if the center opens up, Black's Rooks will wind up there, which means that later the h-pawn could be at risk.

It's not just White who can have a hard time choosing moves!

22.e5 dxe5 23.dxe5 Ng4 24.h3 Nh6

White finally gets the advantage. Black had an interesting save of his Knight, instead of the retreat: 24...Qc5+, since after 25.Kh1 the g4 Knight can't be captured because White would get checkmated.

25.Qf2
White should have grabbed the pawn at h5 instead.

25...Kd7

Black's King and Queen have had a horrible time deciding where to go. This continues to help White.

26.Qd4+

One of the things that I've discovered while going over this game and the several prior ones is that getting the "Jerome pawns" to the 5th (or 5th and 6th) rank is more of a strategic victory than a tactical conclusion – White has more space, and can use it; he can even conjure up threats; but there's still a lot of work to do.

26...Ke8

Taking refuge with 26...Kc8 was relatively safer, but Black is still troubled.

27.f6 Qe6 28.fxg7 Rg8 29.Rf6