The following Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) game is a pretty ordinary one - if you are a grandmaster, that is. It is another 3-minute blitz game from an online speedrun, "GM Hikaru on 1900s: They Don't Make Em Like They Used To".
It is educational to watch how Grandmaster Hikaru Nakamura makes solid move after solid move, risking little, patiently keeping his position intact, limiting his opponent - until he has the opportunity to strike.
GM Nakamura - NN
3 0 blitz, internet, 2021
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+
4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ng6
7.Qxc5 d6
It is important to mention an alternative here, as the game is relevant to the note below: 7...Qe7 8.Qe3 Nf6 9.d3 d5 10.f3 Re8 11.O-O Kg8 12.Qf2 c6 13.Nc3 Be6 14.Be3 Bf7 15.Bxa7 dxe4 16.dxe4 Qb4 17.Bd4 Ne5 18.a3 Qe7 19.h3 Bc4 20.Rfe1 Rad8 21.Rad1 Ned7 22.e5 Nd5 23.Nxd5 Bxd5 24.f4 g6 25.Rd3 Rf8 26.e6 Nc5 27.Bxc5 Black resigned, GMHikaruOnTwitch - simonsah2004, 3 0 blitz, Chess.com, 2021.
8.Qe3 Nf6 9.O-O Re8 10.d3 d5 11.f3 Kg8
White will not rush things. Black's 10...d5 is a good, thematic move, and it fits well with the piece (Knight, Rook) pressure on the pawn at e4. The attacker has become the attacked, a reversal sometimes seen in the Jerome Gambit.
In turn, Black shows patience as well: he castles-by-hand. There was an exchange of pawns in an earlier GM Nakamura game: 11...dxe4 12.dxe4 Kg8 13.b3 c6 14.Bb2 Nd5 15.Qf2 Nb6 16.a4 Be6 17.Nc3 Rc8 18.f4 Bf7 19.Rad1 Qc7 20.h4 Ne7 21.a5 Na8 22.Qg3 g6 23.Qg5 Rcd8 24.Qf6 Rd6 25.Rxd6 Black resigned, GMHikaruOnTwitch - Math694, 3 0 blitz, Chess.com, 2021.
12.h3 c6 13.Qf2 Qb6 14.Nc3 Qxf2+ 15.Rxf2 dxe4 16.dxe4 Bd7
Black has the standard piece-for-2-pawns material advantage, and has exchanged Queens. His King is safe, and he leads in development. Stockfish 14 rates him as about a couple of pawns better.
All he has to do is defeat a grandmaster from this position, or avoid losing on time to one of the top blitz players in the world...
17.Be3 a6 18.Rd1 Be6 19.Rfd2 Ne5 20.Bf4
White's position is solid. What can Black do?
20...Nc4 21.Rf2 Rad8 22.Re1 Nb6
A mistake, but his opponent does not catch it.
23.b3
White makes the c4 square inhospitable for his opponent's pieces. Slowly he forces the pieces back.
It was possible to win the exchange with 23.Bc7.
23...Rd7 24.Be3 Nc8 25.Na4 Red8 26.Nc5 Re7 27.e5 Nd7
A slip. It is quite possible the clock was a factor.
29.Nxd8 Black resigned
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