Jerome Gambit: Gathering Steam

In the following Jerome Gambit game, Black's Bishop uses up enough time that White's attack gathers steam, and then breaks through the resistance.

angelcamina - chicken_balti

1 0 bullet, lichess.org, 2025

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Kf8 

7.Qxe5 Be7

Black will re-purpose his Bishop.

8.O-O 

One danger of bullet play: 8.Qf5+Bf6 9.e5 Qe8 10.d4 d6 11.f4 Bxf5 White resigned, angelcamina - cnyyyper, 1 0 bullet, lichess.org, 2022. 

8...Bf6 

angelcamina has faced other ideas: 8...Nf6 9.Nc3 (9.d4 d6 10.Qf4 Qd7 (10...Bd7 11.e5 dxe5 12.dxe5 Kf7 13.exf6 Bxf6 14.Nc3 Rf8 15.Qc4+ Be6 16.Qb4 Kg8 17.Be3 b6 18.Rad1 Qc8 19.Bd4 Bxd4 20.Rxd4 c5 21.Rc4 cxb4 22.Rxc8 Raxc8 23.Ne4 Bxa2 24.Ra1 Bd5 25.Nd6 Rxc2 26.f3 Rxb2 27.Rxa7 Rb1+ 28.Kf2 Rb2+ 29.Kg3 Rd8 30.Nf5 Rd6 31.Ne7+ Kf8 32.Nf5 g6 33.Nxd6 b3 34.Ne4 Black resigned, angelcamina - asalsakhaei, 1 0 bullet, lichess.org, 2021) 11.e5 dxe5 12.dxe5 Qf5 13.Qxf5 Bxf5 14.exf6 Bxf6 15.c3 Kf7 16.Be3 Rhe8 17.Nd2 Rad8 18.Nf3 Bg6 19.Ng5+ Bxg5 20.Bxg5 Rd5 21.Be3 Rd7 22.Rad1 Rde7 23.Rd4 Kg8 24.Rfd1 b6 25.Rd8 Bc2 26.Rxe8+ Rxe8 27.Rd2 Ba4 28.f3 Rxe3 29.Kf2 Re7 30.g3 Kf7 31.b3 Bc6 32.f4 a5 33.c4 g6 34.g4 h6 35.Rd3 Re4 36.Kg3 Kf6 37.h4 h5 38.gxh5 gxh5 39.a4 Re7 40.Kh3 Rg7 White resigned, angelcamina - shein20042, 1 0 bullet, lichess.org, 2020; 9.f4 d6 10.Qd4 c5 11.Qc4 a5 12.Nc3 b5 13.Nxb5 Ba6 14.a4 Qb6 15.d3 Ke8 16.e5 Nh5 17.exd6 Bxd6 18.Re1+ Be7 19.Bd2 Bxb5 20.axb5 Qg6 21.Rxe7+ Kxe7 22.Re1+ Black resigned, angelcamina - mehmeteminkonuk35, 1 0 bullet, lichess.org, 2022) 9...Kf7 (9...d6 10.Qg3 Kf7 (10...Qd7 11.d4 Qg4 12.Qd3 Ke8 13.f3 Qd7 14.f4 Qg4 15.h3 Qh5 16.e5 dxe5 17.dxe5 Nd7 18.b3 Nb6 19.Nb5 Bd8 20.Ba3 Qf5 21.Qd2 a6 22.Nd4 Qe4 23.Rae1 Qd5 24.c4 Qf7 25.f5 c6 26.f6 gxf6 27.exf6+ Kd7 28.Nb5+ Nd5 29.cxd5 axb5 30.dxc6+ Kxc6 31.Qd6 checkmate, angelcamina - agsugan69, 1 0 bullet, lichess.org, 2021) 11.d4 Rf8 12.f4 Kg8 13.e5 dxe5 14.fxe5 (14.dxe5 Nd5 15.Ne4 Bf5 16.Ng5 h6 17.Nf3 Bc5+ 18.Kh1 Qe7 19.Nh4 Bh7 20.Qb3 c6 21.Bd2 Kh8 22.Rae1 Bg8 23.g3 Nxf4 24.Qxg8+ Rxg8 25.Bxf4 Bb6 26.Ng6+ Kh7 27.Nxe7 Black resigned, angelcamina - Alequis1991, 1 0 bullet, lichess.org, 2019) 14...Nd5 15.Rxf8+ Bxf8 16.Bg5 Qd7 17.Rf1 Qg4 18.Qxg4 Bxg4 19.Nxd5 c6 20.Ne3 Be2 21.Rf2 Ba6 22.Bh4 h6 23.Bg3 Rd8 24.c3 c5 25.Nf5 cxd4 26.Nxd4 Bc5 White resigned, angelcamina - jahreddd, 1 0 bullet, lichess.org, 2018) 10.f4 Rf8 11.Qb5 Kg8 12.e5 Ne8 13.Qb3+ Kh8 14.d4 d6 15.Be3 dxe5 16.dxe5 b6 17.Rad1 Bd7 18.e6 Bxe6 19.Rxd8 Bxb3 20.Rxa8 Bc4 21.Re1 Nd6 22.Bd4 Rxa8 23.Rxe7 c5 24.Bxg7+ Kg8 25.Be5 Nf5 26.Ne4 Rd8 27.Nf6+ Kf8 28.Rxh7 Rd1+ 29.Kf2 Black resigned, angelcamina - MIV_657, 1 0 bullet, lichess.org, 2024.

9.Qg3 Nh6 10.e5 

With his King moved to safety, White advances his e-pawn.

Black continues to be active with his dark-square Bishop, then, surprisingly, exchanges it.

10...Bh4 11.Qf3+ Nf7 12.d4 Bg5 13.Bxg5 Qxg5 

Black has a piece for two pawns, but the uneasy placement of his King makes the position about equal.

Should White be happy with an equal position? On one hand, that is a small benefit for an attack; on the other hand, having sacrificed two pieces in a "refuted" opening, to have an equal game is encouraging. 

14.Nc3 g6 15.Ne4 Qe7 16.Qe3 Kg7 17.f4 b6 18.f5 

White takes advantage of the time given to him by his opponent's quiet moves. A breakthrough on the f-file will open a highway for his Rooks.

18...gxf5 19.Rxf5 Bb7 20.Raf1 Raf8 

Grandmaster Andy Soltis has remarked, tongue-in-cheek, that whenever there is a choice of Rooks to move to a square, the one selected can always be noted as "wrong Rook". In this case, however, GM Soltis is right - as angelcamina quickly show.

21.Qg3+ Kh6 22.Rf6+ Qxf6 23.Rxf6+ Kh5 24.Qh3 checkmate