Good Old Uncle Jerome

Chris Torres, of the online site Chess Musings, sends "a game I just played where I forced a Jerome Gambit where it didn’t belong. 😉 "

Check it out.

chessmusings - Stefanrapp
internet, 2018

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 h6 4.c3 Bc5 5.Bxf7+

Good Old Uncle Jerome... You can't take him anywhere without him causing some kind of disturbance.

Here, Black was looking for a quiet game, the kind of thing you would reach after 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5, and he even tossed in ...h6, so that, after White's c3, the game would be even quieter.

Alas, White sports some Jerome mischief with 5.Bxf7+. 

It is interesting to note that while the computers clutch at their silicon pearls after such a move, Stockfish 9 suggests, instead, 5.b4 Bd6 6.O-O Nge7 7.d4 Ng6 8.dxe5 Ngxe5 9.Nxe5 Bxe5 10.b5 Na5 11.Bxf7+ - Good Old Uncle Jerome, late to the party, but still livening things up.

5...Kxf7 6.Nxe5+ Nxe5 7.Qh5+ Ke6 

8.d4 Nd3+

As happens in many a Jerome encounter, Black has a few ideas that are interesting and correct. But this does not end the discussion.

9.Kd1 Be7 

But this move clearly does.

10.Qd5+ Kf6 11.Qf5 checkmate

Like with many conversations, Black is left muttering "What I should have said was..."