Jerome Gambit: Another Day At The Office

I know that the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) is a wild opening, but sometimes the game unfolds in ordinary fashion, as it if it were just another day at the office.

The following game is a good example.

Chess_5055 - macius00

3 2 blitz, lichess.org, 2023

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ng6 7.Qxc5 d6 

Here, White can choose to retreat his Queen with or without checking the enemy King.

I was surprised to see that Stockfish (40 ply) evaluated its top choice, 8.Qa3 (in 204 games in The Database; scoring 43%), as about 1/3 of a pawn pawn better than the more popular 8.Qe3 (660 games in The Database; scoring 50%).

8.Qc4+ 

According to The Database, not as popular (238 games) but even more effective (53%).

8...Be6 9.Qe2 

Stronger than the move he played week earlier: 9.Qb4 b6 10.d4 c5 11.dxc5 bxc5 12.Qb7+ N8e7 13.O-O Qb6 14.Qxb6 axb6 15.Nc3 Ne5 16.f4 N5c6 17.f5 Bc4 18.Re1 Nd4 19.Bg5 Nxc2 20.Bxe7 Kxe7 21.b3 Bf7 22.Rad1 Nxe1 23.Rxe1 Kd7 24.Kf2 Kc6 25.Ke3 b5 26.Rd1 b4 27.Na4 c4 28.g4 cxb3 29.axb3 Bxb3 White resigned, Chess_5055-Saergut, lichess.org, 2023.

 9...Nf4 10.Qf3 Qf6 11.d4 

11...Bc4 

Black's minor pieces begin to look like trapeze artists flying wihout a net. More grounded would have been 11...Ng6.

12.Qxf4 Qxf4 13.Bxf4 Re8 14.f3 d5 15.Nd2 

A blitz oversight?

15...dxe4 16.Nxc4 exf3+ 17.Kf2 fxg2 18.Kxg2 Re2+ 19.Kf3 Rxc2 

Now White has the extra piece, but he still has to contend with Black's Rook.

He decides that attacking the King (and the Rook) is the answer.

20.Ne5+ Ke6 21.Rhc1 Rxb2 22.Rxc7 Ne7 23.Re1 Kd6 24.Nc4+ Black resigned