Jerome Gambit: Often "Reasonable" Is Not Enough

In the following game, Black puts together a defense against the Jerome Gambit that appears, at first glance, to be quite reasonable. That is one of the problems in facing the Jerome - it appears to be so reckless that any "reasonable" response will be effective. Not so.

angelcamina - Otbn
1 0 bullet, lichess.org, 2019

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.d4 Bd6 

It seems reasonable to grab a pawn after returning one of the two gambitted pieces. The problem is the plan squanders most of Black's advantage.

7.dxe5 Bxe5 8.Qd5+ Kf8 

9.Qxe5 Qe7 

The exchange of Queens may cut down on White's attacking chances, but it gives the first player a simple game, a solid pawn up. We have seen a number of games where this strategy has failed against angelcamina.

10.Qxe7+ Kxe7 11.O-O Nf6 12.Nc3 d6 13.Bg5 Rf8 

14.f3 Kf7 15.Bxf6 gxf6 16.Nd5 c6 17.Nf4 Rg8 18.Rad1 d5 

All things being equal, going down a second pawn is not a good idea, even in bullet chess. It might only work if the player is moving faster than his opponent, and is ahead on the clock.

19.exd5 cxd5 20.Rxd5 b6 21.Rfd1 Bb7 

A mistake that ends the game.

22.Rd7+ Black resigned