Jerome Gambit: Updating Early Secrets (Part 5)

Here are a few more updates, as we noted a few posts ago, 

From "Jerome Gambit" Secret No More"

Jerome Gambit Secrets continue to be revealed. Most recently, I had to cross #13 off the list, as it was not longer secret. This one was on behalf of the defender, and to White I can only say with a smile "Don't say I didn't warn you"

"Jerome Gambit Secret #14" came in a line where Black avoided the Jerome: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Na5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Ke6 

Many of us would now choose 6.Qh5, but the move looked at was 6.Nc3, which still leads to an equal position. The Database has 9 games with 6.Nc3, with White scoring 44%. It is interesting that lichess.org has 27 games, with White scoring 68%.

"Jerome Gambit Secret #15": 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ng6 7.Qd5+ Kf8 8.Qxc5+ Qe7 9.Qe3 d5

...d5 is a thematic move for the defense against the Jerome Gambit, and it is not surprising that Stockfish 15.1 evaluates the resulting position as about 2 1/3 pawns better for Black. Yet, The Database has only 12 games with the move, with White scoring 58%.  Even more, lichess.org has 230 games, where White scores 65%. As is often the case in the Jerome, playing the "best" move does not necessarily make the position less complicated.