Not Quite A Jerome Gambit

When my opponent did not go into a Jerome Gambit, I patiently waited for him to play "extra" moves until we transposed. It turned out that my "extra" moves "disappeared," while his actually helped him out a little bit.

perrypawnpusher - Octv
blitz, FICS, 2010

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 a6

This seems to rule out a Jerome Gambit, but maybe not. I've been able to turn things Jerome-ish before: see "Suddenly...Poof!", "Haunted by the Jerome Gambit", "Brawl" and "Long Lost Cousins & Perfect Strangers" for examples.

4.0-0

The updated New Year's Database has a couple of games by Bill Wall where he played 4.Nc3 instead, responding to 4...b5 with 5.Bxf7+: 5...Kxf7 6.Nxe5+ Ke8 (6...Nxe5 7.Qh5+ g6 8.Qxe5 Bg7  9.Qd5+ Ke8 10.Qxa8 Black resigned, Wall,B - Dinghy, 1998) 7.d4 d6 8.Nxc6 Qd7 9.d5 Ne7 10.Nd4 Bb7 11.Qf3 c5 12.dxc6 Nxc6 13.Nxc6 Bxc6 14.0-0 Be7 15.Rd1 Rf8 16.Qh5+ Rf7 17.Qxh7 b4 18.Nd5 Bg5 19.Bxg5, Black resigned, Wall,B - Gonzalez, Chess.com, 2010

4...b5 5.Bb3 Nf6 6.Nc3

I was still holding out for some kind of Jerome Gambit, or I would have played 6.d4.

6...Bc5 7.Bxf7+

Here we go...

7...Kxf7 8.Nxe5+ Nxe5 9.d4 d6

Playing along the lines of the Italian Four Knights Jerome Gambit. The addition of ...a6 and ...b5 probably helps Black a bit by comparison.

10.dxc5 dxc5 11.Qe2 Bb7 12.Bg5 h5

At first I thought this was a mouse-slip for 12...h6, but it turned out that Black was planning to put a Knight on g4 and look for "Fishing Pole" style options (h3 followed by hxg4 would be answered with ...hxg4, opening the Rook's file). 

13.Rad1 Qe7 14.f4 Neg4

15.e5 Nd7

An oversight.

Afterwards Rybka suggested 15...c4 16.exf6 Qxe2 17.Nxe2 Nxf6 with about an even game.

16.Bxe7 Black resigned