It's time to go back to Philidor1792 for some more 9.Na3 ideas... The following game is a good reminder that it only takes one mistake to lose a game, if it's a "good" one.
In my latest Jerome Gambit game, my opponent reversed the 8th and 9th moves of the "His Nibs defense" and still got a good game. My only chance was to vary and confuse him. It worked. perrypawnpusher - rheapennata blitz, FICS, 2012 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+
Probably best was 9...Ne7 10.e5+ Nxe5 11.Qxe5+ Kc6. 10.Qd5+ Here 10.g3?, transposing into the "His Nibs" variation, would have been foolish. 10...Ke7 11.Qxc5+ Kd8 Up until this point, my opponent had been using a good bit of time, as he made his way through the variation. This is a blitz slip, however, probably more reflex than planning. Instead, 11...Kf7 12.gxf3 Qxf4 13.Ke2 would have left White a pawn up. 12.Qf8 checkmate
Here is another Jerome Gambit exploration by Philidor1792, tackling an annoying defensive variation (for a game, and a discussion by MrJoker, see "Theory From the Thematic Tourney" Part 3 and Part 4), battling with his opponent and prevailing.
8.fxe5 dxe5 9.Qh3+ Ke7 9...Kd6 was seen inYace Paderborn - RevvedUp, 2006 (1-0, 48) and Morin,L-Dumont,F, Montreal, 2011 (0-1, 57). 10.Qg3 Kf7 11.Qxe5 Qh4+
Other choices by Black (all in The Database): 11...Qd6 in Wall,B, - Qi,H, Chess.com, 2011 (1-0, 14); 11...b6 in Wall,B - Redom,T, Chess.com, 2010 (½-½,59); 11...Bd4 in Fritz 5.32 - Junior 7, The Jeroen Experience, 2003 (0-1, 32) 12.g3 Qe7 13.Qxe7+ Or 13.Rf1+ in Colossus - Rybka v1.0 Beta.w32, USA, 2006 (0-1,42). 13...Nxe7 14.c3 Bb6 15.d4 Ke8
Here we have a typical Jerome Gambit Queenless middlegame/endgame, where Philidor1792 wants to make the most of his "Jerome pawns". 16.Be3 Nc617.Nd2 Ne5 18.Kd1 Ng4 19.Ke2 Be6 20.Bf4 Kd7 21.Raf1 Raf8 22.h3 Nf6 23.Kd3 Kc8 24.Re1 Nh5 25.Be5 Rf7 26.Rhf1 Nf6
White patiently maneuvers and improves the placement of his pieces. 27.g4 Nd7 28.Bg3 Rxf1 29.Rxf1 a6 30.Nc4 Ba7 31.b3 h5 32.Ne3 hxg4 33.hxg4 Bb6 34.Rf3 Nf6 35.g5 Nh5 36.Be5 Kd7
37.Nf5 Rf8 38.c4 Bxf5 39.exf5 c6 40.Ke4 Rf7 A slip, but the game remains drawish.. 41.Rh3 c5 42.Rxh5 cxd4 43.Bxd4 Bxd4 44.Kxd4Rxf5
Has White reached his goal of an endgame draw with the Jerome Gambit? 53.Kb2 No! White wants more. This seems to upset Black, who soon settles for less. 53...b5 54.Rb6+ Ke555.cxb5 axb5 56.Rxb5+ Kd457.Rc5 g5 58.a4 g4 59.a5 Rg2+ 60.Kb3 Rg3+ 61.Ka4 Rg1 62.Kb5 g3 63.a6 Ra1 64.Rg5 Ra3 65.Kb6 Black resigned
Despite the bad news that his games might sometimes bring (see "Sometimes"), Philidor 1792 is a fan of the Jerome Gambit: he wins with it regularly, and is always willing to try different paths of play. Here is another collection of hard-fought play.
White has only a pawn for his sacrificed piece, but he has only begun to fight! It can be discouraging for the "winning" player to face someone who refuses to lose. 22.0-0 Nd4 23.c3 Ne2+ 24.Kf2Nxc1 25.Raxc1 Rhe8 26.Rc2 Re5 27.Rd2+ Kc6 28.Kg1 f5 29.Rf4 Rae8 30.Rh4 Bg6 31.Rc4+ Rc5 32.Rcd4
It looks like Black has made some headway, but White is willing to exchange three pawns for one, to liquidate the Queenside. The Kingside will be next. 52.Kd4 Kxa4 53.c4 Kxa3 54.c5 bxc5+ 55.Kxc5 Kb3 56.Kd4 Bc2 57.Ke5 Kc3 58.h4 Kd3 59.g5 Bd1 60.Kf6 Bh5 61.Kg7 Bg6 62.h5 Be4 63.g6 hxg6 64.hxg6 Bxg6 65.Kxg6 Drawn
Still unwilling to concede the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) to the Nibs Defense (see "Sometimes"), Philidor1792 recently explored a "theoretical novelty" at move 9 in a couple of games, and discovered that it did not lead to escape. Philidor1792 - computer Casual game, 2012 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+
9.Ke2 This is a TN, as an alternative to 9.g3 Nf6+ 10.Kd1 or 10.Kf1. 9...Qf2+ An improvement over 9...Qg4+, when White was able to wrangle a draw with much, much effort, against a human opponent, i.e. 10.Qxg4 Nxg4 11.d4 Bb6 12.Kf3 N4h6 13.Be3 c6 14.c4 Ke7 15.Nc3 Ba5 16.g4 Bxc3 17.bxc3 d6 18.g5 Nf7 19.f5 h6 20.h4 hxg5 21.hxg5 Rxh1 22.Rxh1 Bd7 23.Kf4 b5 24.cxb5 cxb5 25.e5 Bc6 26.Rh7 Kf8 27.g6 Nfh6 28.Kg5 Re8 29.Bf4 Bd5 30.f6 gxf6+ 31.exf6 Re2 32.Bxd6+ Ke8 33.Rxh6 Rg2+ 34.Kh5 Nxh6 35.Kxh6 Bxa2 36.Bb4 Rh2+ 37.Kg7 Rg2 38.Kh6 Rf2 39.Kg7 Rg2 40.Kh6 Bd5 41.Kh7 Rh2+ 42.Kg7 Rf2 43.Bc5 a5 44.Ba3 Rf3 45.Bc5 Rf4 46.Ba3 Rf3 47.Bc5 Rg3 48.Bd6 Rg2 49.Kh6 drawn, Philidor1792 - guest276, Internet online game, 2012. 10.Kd1 Ng6 11.d3 c6 12.Qg4 Kc7 13.Qg3 Qxg3 14.hxg3 d6
White's "Jerome pawns" are up against two extra Black pieces, which is a bit too much. 15.f5 Ne5 16.Bf4 Ng4 17.Ke2 N8f6 18.Nd2 Re8 19.Kf3 The King rallies his troops, but the defense is too difficult. 19...g6 20.fxg6 hxg6 21.Raf1 Nh2+ 22.Rxh2 Bg4 checkmate
Having explored the difficult 10.Kd1 variation of the "Nibs Defense" to the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) (see "Sailing Off the Edge of the World" and "Sailing Off Again"), Philidor1792 recently tackled the lesser-played 10.Kf1 variation, with equally sober results. Sometimes a "refuted" opening plays like a refuted opening... Philidor1792 - computer Casual game, 2012 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+
Black's two quirky last moves show that he is either a) familiar with the His Nibs Defense, or b) a computer. 10.Kf1 Avoiding the d1-h5 diagonal, so deadly in the 10.Kd1 variation. 10...Ne7 11.e5+ Kc6 12.Qe4+ d5 13.exd6+
This is an improvement over the reasonable-looking 13.Qxf3, e.g. 13...Bg4 14.Qg2 Qh5 15.Ke1 Nf5 16.Qf1 Nd4 17.Qd3 Be2 18.Qc3 Nf3+ White resigned, Philidor1792 - computer, casual game, 2012. 13...Nd5 14.gxh4 Bh3+ White gets Black's Queen, but it is a sacrifice, not a blunder. White's King can find no peace. 15.Ke2Nd4+ 16.Kd3 Rhe8 17.Qxd4 Bf5+ 18.Kc4 b5+ 19.Kb3 Bxd4 20.dxc7 Be6 21.c3 Ne3+ 22.c4 Bxc4+ 23.Kb4 a5+ 24.Ka3 Nc2 checkmate
Sometimes seeking the truth, however courageously, is painful.
Checking out the larger (25 player) of the two Italian Game tournaments that I have been playing in at Chess.com, I noticed a new icon, the meaning of which appears to be "You have been eliminated". A 4-4 record placed me third in my 5-player group, and probably 11th in a field in which only 10 will move on to the next round (see "Counting"). Still, I was able to score a win with the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) against my group's top finisher, narvi, to whom I wish the best success. The 20 player Italian Game tournament, where I finished at the top of my 4-player group with 5-1 (2-1 with the Jerome Gambit) remains. The second round has not yet started.