The Gentleman or the Tireder?

Except for a few slips, my opponent consistently outplayed me in the following game, which is especially notable given that he used up much of his initial 2 minutes quickly and played the large majority of his remaining moves on each 12-second increment.

Just when he reached a "won" endgame, he offered me a draw. Was he simply tired from playing so long on the knife's edge of time? Or had he seen what was to come, but in a sporting way rewarded my resistance with a half-point?

 perrypawnpusher - dogofthesouth
blitz 2 12, FICS, 2010

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Kf8

7.Qxe5 Bd6

This move is better than it looks at first glance, and forces White's Queen to abandon the center or abandon the board.

8.Qf5+

Also seen has been 8.Qc3, in perrypawnpusher - Lark, blitz, FICS, 2009 (1-0, 30); 8.Qa5, in billwall - firewine, Chess.com, 2010 (1-0, 53); and 8.Qh5 in blackburne - Whiterose, ChessWorld, 2004 (1-0, 11).

8...Qf6 9.Qxf6+ Nxf6 10.Nc3

I was not happy exchanging Queens, but sometimes it has to happen. I continued to play confidently and quickly, and a moment of uncertainty on behalf of my opponent (plus his use of time) was my reward.

Also played was 10.d3, in perrypawnpusher - LeiCar, blitz, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 34).

10...Be5 11.0-0 Bxc3 12.bxc3 d6

The pawn on e4 was free for the taking. I should have protected it with 11.d3. My opponent, however, was suspicious and gave me time to recover.

13.d3 h6

Louis Marin ground down his opponent after 13...Kf7, mrjoker - PhlebasP, ICC, 2008 (1-0, 34).

14.f4 Ke7 15.Ba3 Bd7 16.e5 Nd5 17.c4 Ne3 18.Rf2 Bc6

Black's last move (instead of 18...c5, blocking the a3-f8 diagonal) is part of his plan to put pressure on g2, but proves to be inaccurate and allows White to pull even.

19.Re1 Nxg2 20.Rxg2 Bxg2 21.exd6+ Kf7 22.Re7+ Kg6 23.Kxg2 cxd6

Black is up the exchange for a pawn (soon two), but with the proper follow-up White can now develop winning chances.

24.Re6+

This is not the right way, however. After 24.Bxd6, White's Rook can threaten Black's pawns at b7 and g7 (especially after Be5). When one of them falls, three pawns would be great compensation for the exchange.

24...Kf5 25.Rxd6 Rad8 26.Rxd8 Rxd8

Over the next 30 moves White's compensation falls, like autumn leaves from a tree. My opponent's play is not always the most accurate, but, given his time constraints, he did well; and certainly better than I did

27.Kf3 Rd7 28.Bb2 b6 29.Be5 Re7 30.c3 g5 31.d4 gxf4 32.Bxf4 h5 33.Be3 Re4 34.c5 bxc5 35.dxc5 a5

Black could have saved himself a lot of trouble by playing 25...Ra4 here. His a-pawn would then Queen, while my forward c-pawn would not.

36.Bd4 Rg4 37.c6 Rg8 38.c7 a4 39.a3 Re8 40.c4 Ke6 41.Kg3 Kf5 42.h4 Ke4 43.Bb6 Rc8

44.Ba5 Kd4 45.Kf4 Kxc4 46.Kg5 Kb3 47.Bb4

White had a clearer chance to play for the draw here with 47.Kf6: 47...Kxa3 48.Ke7 Kb3 49.Kd7 a3 50.Bb6 Rg8 51.c8/Q Rxc8 52.Kxc8 a2 53.Bd4 Kc4! Black can now run his King over to attack White's h-pawn, causing the Bishop to protect it; play ...a2-a1/Q, forcing the Bishop to capture the Queen and un-protect the h-pawn; and capture the h-pawn; but the Bishop will stop the final Black pawn from Queening.

I was thinking, instead, that getting another Black pawn off of the board was the key to my survival. It might have been, but not the way that I played it.

47...Rxc7 48.Kxh5 Kc4

It is possible that 48...Rb7 is stronger, as it implements the threat of capturing White's Bishop and thus freeing Black's a-pawn to advance and Queen. White would have to try something like 49.Bf8. I am not sure how much more Black could achieve by chasing the Bishop here and there.

49.Kg6 Kd5 50.h5 Rc6+ 51.Kg5 Ke6

White must now play 52.Kg6 to keep Black's King away from the h-pawn and maintain drawing chances.

52.h6 Kf7 53.Kh5 Kg8 54.Be7 Kh7

Now the h-pawn is doomed, and with it, quite probably, my game.

55.Bf8 Rc3 56.Kg5 Rf3 57.Bb4 Rg3+ 58.Kh5 Rh3+ 59.Kg5 Rg3+

At this point my opponent offered a Draw, and with a sense of relief I accepted.

The question in my mind was "Didn't Black have a win after 59...Rxh6"?

It turns out that the people who have created Rybka have a website (http://chessok.com/?page_id=361) where there is a 6-man Nalimov Endgame Tablebase which gives the answer: after 59...Rxh6 Black would have a mate in at most 48 more moves: 60.Kf5 Rh5+ 61.Ke4 Rh4+ 62.Kd3 Rg4 63.Bc5 Kg8 64.Bd6 Kf7 65.Bb4 Rh4 66.Bc5 Ke6 67.Bf8 Rh8 68.Bc5 Kd5 69.Bb4 Rh3+ 70.Kc2 Rg3 71.Be7 Rf3 72.Bb4 Kc4 73.Bd6 Rf2+ 74.Kb1 Kb3 75.Kc1 Rc2+ 76.Kd1 Rc8 77.Be7 Re8 78.Bb4 Kb2 79.Bc5 Rd8+ 80.Ke2 Kb3 81.Ke3 Rc8 82.Bb4 Rb8 83.Bc5 Kc4 84.Bd6 Re8+ 85.Kf2 Re6 86.Bb4 Rb6 87.Be7 Rb7 88.Bd6 Kd5 89.Bf4 Rb3 90.Bc1 Rc3 91.Bg5 Rxa3 92.Be7 Rd3 93.Bf6 a3 94.Ba1 Rd1 95.Bc3 Kc4 96.Bf6 a2 97.Ke3 Rd3+ 98.Ke4 Rc3 99.Bg7 a1Q 100.Bxc3 Qxc3 101.Kf5 Qd4 102.Kg6 Qe5 103.Kh7 Qg3 104.Kh8 Kd5 105.Kh7 Ke6 106.Kh8 Kf7 107.Kh7 Qh4#

Whew! That line is very complicated and possibly not worth the effort finding in a casual blitz game. In all fairness, though, White would be more likely to err and lose while Black would be risking very little. 

A Working Class, Impatient Move

Bobby Fischer played successfully with and against the Sicilian Najdorf variation, referring to 5...a6 as "a high class waiting move."

In contrast, in the Jerome Gambit's (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+), Jerome Defense, Black's 7...Bd6 can be considered "a working class, impatient move" – but one that both White and Black should become more familiar with.

perrypawnpusher - LeiCar
blitz FICS, 2010

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Kf8

Alonzo Wheeler Jerome mentioned this move in his 1874 analysis of the Jerome Gambit in the Dubuque Chess Journal. He later successfully played the defense in two correspondence games against Daniel Jaeger in 1880.

7.Qxe5 Bd6

In the updated New Year's Database, White has scored 45% in 243 games with this position.

I like this move. It looks like the kind of "ugly" move that Nimzovich and Tarrasch would have argued about. It's primative, it's raw, it's... hey, what should White do in response??

8.Qf5+

Previously I tried 8.Qc3  as in 8...Nf6 9.d3 Qe7 10.Bg5 h6 11.Bh4 Bc5 12.0-0 d6 13.d4 g5 14.dxc5 gxh4 15.cxd6 Qxd6 16.Nd2 Rg8 17.f4 Bh3 18.Qxh3 Qxd2 19.Rf2 Qd4 20.Qf5 Qxb2 21.Re1 Qb6 22.e5 Rg7 23.exf6 Rf7 24.Re6 Qb1+ 25.Rf1 Qxa2 26.Rfe1 Qb2 27.Qg6 Qd4+ 28.Kh1 Qxf4 29.Re7 Rxe7 30.fxe7, checkmate, perrypawnpusher - Lark, blitz FICS, 2009;

while Bill Wall ground his opponent down with 8.Qa5 Qf6 9.Nc3 Ne7 10.d3 h6 11.0-0 b6 12.Qa4 c6 13.Be3 Bc5 14.e5 Qg6 15.Ne4 d6 16.Nxd6 Bh3 17.Qe4 Qxe4 18.dxe4 Be6 19.Bxc5 bxc5 20.f4 Nc8 21.f5 Bd7 22.Nb7 Ke7 23.Nxc5 Rf8 24.f6+ gxf6 25.exf6+ Rxf6 26.Rxf6 Kxf6 27.Nxd7+ Ke6 28.Nc5+ Ke5 29.Re1 Nd6 30.Nd3+ Kd4 31.e5 Ne4 32.e6 Re8 33.e7 Rxe7 34.Nf2 Re5 35.Nxe4 Rxe4 36.Rxe4+ Kxe4 37.Kf2 Kd4 38.g4 c5 39.Kf3 Ke5 40.h4 a5 41.a4 c4 42.c3 Kf6 43.Ke4 Ke6 44.Kd4 Kf6 45.Kxc4 Ke5 46.b4 axb4 47.cxb4 Kf4 48.b5 Kxg4 49.a5 Kxh4 50.a6 Kg4 51.a7 h5 52.a8Q h4 53.b6, Black resigned, billwall - firewine, Chess.com 2010;

and Pete Banks scored a quick win with 8.Qh5 Nf6 9.Qf3 Kg8 10.d4 Kf7 11.e5 Black resigned, blackburne - Whiterose, ChessWorld, 2004

Deep Rybka, working in IDeA mode in Aquarium, rates a handful of moves about the same, showing a slight preference for 8.Qb5.

8...Qf6 9.Qxf6+ Nxf6

I have been convinced by better players than myself not to fear the Jerome Gambit end game, although I would still like to find a way to keep my Queen on the board.

10.d3

Or 10.Nc3 Be5 11.d3 Bxc3+ 12.bxc3 d6 13.0-0 Kf7 14.f4 Rf8 15.h3 Kg8 16.g4 Bd7 17.Kh2 Rae8 18.Ba3 Ba4 19.Rf2 Nd7 20.Re1 Ne5 21.Ref1 Nf7 22.Kg3 h6 23.h4 c5 24.Re1 b6 25.c4 a6 26.Bb2 b5 27.cxb5 axb5 28.g5 hxg5 29.hxg5 b4 30.Rh1 Nd8 31.f5 Nc6 32.g6 Ne5 33.Bxe5 Rxe5 34.Rfh2 Black resigned, mrjoker - PhlebasP, ICC, 2008.

10...Bc5

Another Jerome Gambit Gemeinde member with 214 games in the New Year's Database (scoring 52% over all) faced, instead, 10...b6 11.0-0 Bb7 12.f4 Bc5+ 13.Kh1 Ke7 14.c3 d5 15.b4 Bd6 16.e5 Bxb4 17.exf6+ Kxf6 18.cxb4 Rhe8 19.Bb2+ Kf7 20.Na3 Re2 21.Be5 Re8 22.d4 c5 23.bxc5 bxc5 24.Nb5 cxd4 25.Nd6+ Kf8 26.Nxe8 Kxe8 27.Bxd4 Ba6 28.Rfe1 Rxe1+ 29.Rxe1+ Kd7 Black resigned, UNPREDICTABLE - dameyune, FICS, 2009.

11.Nc3 Ng4 12.0-0 d6 13.h3 Ne5

Black is working on finding a plan.

14.Bf4 Kf7 15.Nd5 Bb6 16.Nxb6 axb6

17.Be3 Rf8 18.f4 Nc6 19.c3 Kg8 20.d4 Ne7

White is mobilizing his "Jerome Pawns." Black still has the advantage, though.

21.f5 c6 22.Bg5 Rf7 23.Bxe7

A thoughtless move. Instead, 23.g4 was thematic and led to an almost-equal game.

23...Rxe7 24.Rf4 Bd7 25.g4 Rf8 26.Re1

26...g5

Taking a shorter step – 26...g6 – seemed more prudent to me, but Rybka let the text move go by without comment.

27.Rff1 c5 28.e5 dxe5 29.dxe5 Rfe8

The game seems in balance.

30.e6 Bc6

Of course, Black could have returned his piece for the two pawns (30...Bxe6 etc), but LeiCar was looking for more than an equal game.

Unfortunately for him, that was my best offer.

31.f6

As the villains say in many Scooby Doo episodes ...and I would have gotten away with it too, if it weren't for you meddling pawns, er, kids...

31...Rxe6 32.f7+ Kf8

This allows White's pawn to capture, promote and check. The alternative, 32...Kg7, would have allowd Black to capture the passer and would have cost only the exchange, but Black's position would have been poor after 33.Rxe6 Rf8 34.Rf5 Rxf7 35.Rxg5+ Kh8, for example, with 36.Rd6 Re7 37.Rd8+ Be8

analysis diagram






33.fxe8Q+ Kxe8 34.Rxe6+ Black resigned

If you want them to stop laughing...

...first you have to stop telling jokes.

The following Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) is overly-long. That's not my opponent's fault – in fact, he thought my opening was such a joke that he rushed several "aggressive" moves that either put him at a disadvantage, or lost the chance at a serious advantage.

It's my fault. Several times when it looked like it was time for Black to exit, I made jokey moves that gave him hope that there would be more pratfalls like that ahead. It's fortunate for me that he didn't hold out until the moment of checkmate!

perrypawnpusher  - lorecai

blitz FICS, 2010


1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ng6

7.Qd5+ Ke8 8.Qxc5 d6 9.Qe3 Nf6

It is pleasant to watch my opponent take time over every move, especially when I've been here a number of times before.

10.0-0 Rf8 11.f4

A different approach was seen in mrjoker - PhlebasP, ICC, 2009: 11.f3 Kf7 12.Qb3+ Be6 13.Qxb7 Kg8 14.d3 Nd7 15.d4 Bc4 16.Re1 Qb8 17.Qxb8 Raxb8 18.b3 Ba6 19.c4 Nf4 20.Bxf4 Rxf4 21.Nc3 c6 22.Ne2 Rf6 23.f4 Rbf8 24.g4 h6 25.h4 Bc8 26.Kg2 Nb8 27.Kg3 Na6 28.a3 Nc7 29.g5 hxg5 30.hxg5 Rg6 31.d5 cxd5 32.exd5 Bf5 33.Nd4 Na6 34.Nxf5 Rxf5 35.Kg4 Black resigned 

11...Ng4

A very radical approach was taken by Pete Banks a couple of years ago: 11...Kd7 12.Nc3 b6 13.d4 c6 14.f5 Ne7 15.e5 dxe5 16.dxe5 Nfd5 17.e6+ Kc7 18.Qe5+ Kb7 19.Qxg7 Nf6 20.Bg5 Nfg8 21.f6 Qd4+ 22.Kh1 Rxf6 23.Bxf6 Nxf6 24.Qxe7+ Nd7 25.exd7 Qxd7 26.Qxd7+ Bxd7 27.Rf7 Kc7 28.Rd1 Rd8 29.Ne4 Kc8 30.Nf6 Be6 31.Rxd8+ Kxd8 32.Rxa7 Bf5 33.Nxh7 Bxc2 34.h4 Ke8 35.h5 Bxh7 36.Rxh7 Kf8 37.h6 Kg8 38.Rb7 Black resigned, perrypawnpusher - blackburne, JG3 thematic Chessworld,2008;


Wheras Louis Morin saw another defensive plan: 11...Rf7 12.Nc3 Kf8 13.d4 c6 14.Bd2 Bd7 15.f5 Ne7 16.Rae1 Qc7 17.h3 Re8 18.g4 b5 19.g5 Nfg8 20.Qg3 b4 21.Nd1 Qb6 22.Qxd6 Bxf5 23.Rxf5 Rxf5 24.exf5 Rd8 25.Qxb4 Qxd4+ 26.Qxd4 Rxd4 27.Bc3 Rf4 28.f6 gxf6 29.gxf6 Nxf6 30.Bxf6 Rxf6 31.Rf1 Rxf1+ 32.Kxf1 Nd5 33.a3 Ke7 34.Kf2 Kd6 35.Ne3 Nf4 36.Kg3 Ne2+ 37.Kf3 Nd4+ 38.Ke4 Ne6 39.h4 a5 40.b4 axb4 41.axb4 c5 42.b5 Nd4 43.c4 h6 44.Nf5+ Ke6 45.Nxd4+ cxd4 46.b6 d3 47.Kxd3 Kf5 48.b7 Kg4 49.b8Q Kxh4 Black resigned, mrjoker - Mandragora, ICC, 2008.

12.Qg3 h5

13.d4 h4 14.Qd3 Rxf4

A surprising slip – enough so that I capture with the wrong piece. Still, White now gets the advantage.

15.Rxf4 Nxf4 16.Bxf4 Qf6

17.Be3 h3 18.Nc3 hxg2 19.Kxg2 Qh4

This attack should not succeed, unless it is underestimated.

20.Bf4

This is silly: 20.h3 holds just fine – which I am sure that my opponent figured out, right after he mis-played his next move.

20...Nf2

If the Queen goes to f2, instead, Black wins a piece.

Lorecai must be convinced by now that he was playing a lucky someone who survives despite poor play. 

21.Qg3

The Queen's rush to defense makes everything okay for White.

21...Bh3+

An angry, impatient move; while the exchange of Queens would have saved the trapped Knight, at the cost of ending Black's attack.

22.Kxf2 Qxg3+ 23.hxg3

I'm up a pawn and a piece, but my play so far encourages Black to stay in the game.

23...Kd7 24.Rh1 Bg4

For the second half of the game, I focused on turning my material advantage into a win.

25.Ne2 Rf8 26.Ke3 Bxe2 27.Kxe2 Re8 28.Rh7 Rxe4+ 29.Kd3 Re7

30.c4 Rf7 31.d5 c6 32.dxc6+ bxc6 33.b4 Ke6 34.Kd4

34...Kf6 35.Bxd6 Rd7 36.Kc5 Ke6 37.Bf8 Kf6

38.Kxc6 Rd3 39.Rxg7 Rd2 40.Rxa7 Rd3

I was a little embarassed at this point that my opponent still didn't want to admit defeat – that he still thought he had a chance against me in this game.

41.Bd6 Ke6 42.c5 Rd4 43.b5 Rg4 44.b6 Rg8

45.Re7+ Kf5 46.b7 Kf6 47.Re3 Black resigned

Tomorrow is another day...

When I play the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) I stay with the main lines and let my opponent do the innovating. Often he'll play a "Theoretical Lemon" (TL) rather than a "Theoretical Novelty" (TN).

The times when my opponent improves on past theory and play? Well, as they say, tomorrow is another day...

perrypawnpusher  - frencheng
blitz 10 0, FICS, 2010

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Kf8

As recently noted, this response has the highest success rate (56%) for Black in the games in the New Year's Database.

The move appeared first in Alonzo Wheeler Jerome's 1874 analysis of the Jerome Gambit in the Dubuque Chess Journal. The article contained an interesting caveat:

It should be understood that Mr. Jerome claims in this New Opening "only a pleasant variation of the Giuoco Piano, which may win or lose according to the skill of the players, but which is capable of affording many new positions and opportunities for heavy blows unexpectedly."

7.Qxe5 Qe7

A strong choice. An earlier game with the same opponent continued: 7...d6 8.Qg3 Qe7 9.d3 d5 10.0-0 dxe4 11.Re1 Qd6 12.Bf4 Qd4 13.Be5 Qd7 14.Rxe4 Qf5 15.Qxg7+ Ke8 16.Bg3+ Qxe4 17.dxe4 Black resigned, perrypawnpusher - frencheng, blitz FICS, 2010.

8.Qf4+

A similar idea (with a different response) was seen in blackburne - JFRAY, ChessWorld,  2004: 8.Qf5+ Ke8 9.0-0 d6 10.Qf3 Be6 11.Nc3 c6 12.d3 h6 13.Be3 Bxe3 14.fxe3 Nf6 15.d4 Rf8 16.e5 Nd5 17.exd6 Rxf3 18.dxe7 Rxf1+ 19.Rxf1 Kxe7 20.Nxd5+ Bxd5 21.b3 Rf8 22.c4 Rxf1+ 23.Kxf1 Be4 24.Kf2 Bb1 25.a3 Ba2 26.c5 Bxb3 27.e4 Ke6 28.Kf3 b6 29.Kf4 bxc5 30.dxc5 g5+ 31.Ke3 Ke5 32.Kd3 a5 33.g3 h5 34.h3 h4 35.g4 a4 36.Kc3 Bd1 37.Kb4 Kxe4 38.Ka5 Kd5 39.Kb4 Bxg4 40.Kxa4 Bxh3 41.Kb4 Bf1 42.a4 h3 43.a5 h2 White resigned 

A fundamental alternative at this point is for White to exchange Queens, something that Louis Morin ("mrjoker") has explored in a number of games.

An early experiment did not go well: 8.d4 Qxe5 9.dxe5 Ne7 10.Nd2 Ng6 11.Nf3 b6 12.0-0 Bb7 13.Re1 Re8 14.b3 Nxe5 15.Nd2 Ng4 16.Re2 Ke7 17.h3 Nxf2 18.Rxf2 Rhf8 19.Nf3 Bxe4 20.Bb2 Bxf3 21.gxf3 Rxf3 22.Re1+ Kd8 23.Ref1 Rxf2 24.Rxf2 Re2, White resigned, guest393 - guest664, ICC, 2001.

Morin is quite comfortable playing Queenless middlegames and endings with two pawns for a piece, as further games showed: 8.Qxe7+ Nxe7 (8...Bxe7 9.d4 d6 10.0-0 Nf6 11.Nc3 c6 12.f4 Ke8 13.h3 Be6 14.b3 d5 15.e5 Ne4 16.Nxe4 dxe4 17.f5 Bd5 18.c4 Bf7 19.e6 Bg8 20.Be3 h6 21.Rf4 Bh7 22.g4 Bf6 23.Rd1 Ke7 24.d5 cxd5 25.Bc5+ Ke8 26.cxd5 b6 27.Ba3 Rd8 28.d6 Be5 29.Rxe4 Bxd6 Black resigned, mrjoker - tomnoah, ICC, 2008) 9.c3 (9.0-0 d6 10.c3 Bb6 11.d4 h6 12.f4 g6 13.Be3 Kg7 14.Nd2 Bd7 15.Rae1 Rae8 16.Nf3 Bb5 17.Rf2 d5 18.Ne5 dxe4 19.c4 Ba6 20.b3 Nf5 21.Nd7 Bxd4 22.Bxd4+ Nxd4 23.Ne5 c5 24.Rxe4 b6 25.Re3 Rhf8 26.Rg3 Re6 27.h4 Rxf4 28.Rxf4 Ne2+ 29.Kh2 Nxf4 30.Nf3 Bb7 31.Nd2 Re2 32.Nf1 Rxg2+ 33.Rxg2 Nxg2 34.Ng3 Nxh4 White resigned, mrjoker - blunt7569, ICC, 2008) 9...Kf7 (9...d5 10.d4 Bb6 11.e5 Be6 12.0-0 Ke8 13.Na3 c5 14.Nb5 Kd7 15.Be3 cxd4 16.Nxd4 Nc6 17.f4 Nxd4 18.Bxd4 Bf5 19.h3 Bxd4+ 20.cxd4 Rac8 21.Rac1 Rxc1 22.Rxc1 Rc8 23.Rxc8 Kxc8 24.g4 Bb1 25.a3 g6 26.Kf2 Kd7 27.Kg3 Kc6 28.h4 Kd7 29.h5 Ke6 30.Kh4 gxh5 31.Kxh5 Bg6+ 32.Kh6 Be4 33.f5+ Kf7 34.Kxh7 Bf3 35.g5 Black resigned, mrjoker - Epimacus, ICC, 2009; 9...b5 10.d4 Bb6 11.0-0 d6 12.Be3 g6 13.Bh6+ Ke8 14.Nd2 Bd7 15.Rae1 Kd8 16.f4 Kc8 17.Bg5 Re8 18.h3 Kb7 19.g4 Ng8 20.Kg2 Rf8 21.f5 h6 22.Bf4 g5 23.Bg3 Rae8 24.e5 Bc6+ 25.Kh2 dxe5 26.dxe5 Rd8 27.Nb3 a5 28.Rd1 a4 29.Nd4 Bxd4 30.cxd4 Bd5 31.a3 c6 32.Rfe1 Ne7 33.Rd2 Rde8 34.e6 Nxf5 35.gxf5 Rxf5 36.e7 Kc8 37.Bd6 Kd7 38.Bc5 h5 39.Ree2 g4 40.Rf2 Rf3 41.Rxf3 gxf3 42.Rd1 Rg8 43.Rg1 f2 44.Rxg8 f1Q 45.e8Q+ Kc7 46.Qc8 checkmate, mrjoker - PhlebasP, ICC, 2008) 10.d4 Bb6 11.Be3 Rf8 12.Nd2 d6 13.0-0 Kg8 14.f4 c6 15.Rae1 Bd7 16.h3 Rf7 17.Kh2 Raf8 18.g4 c5 19.dxc5 Bxc5 20.Bxc5 dxc5 21.f5 Ng6 22.fxg6 Rxf1 23.gxh7+ Black resigned, mrjoker - PhlebasP, ICC, 2009.

8...Nf6 9.d3

In a relevant, correspondence game, Jerome himself faced his own gambit and survived: 9.Nc3 c6 10.d3 d6 11.h3 h6 12.0-0 g5 13.Qg3 Qe5 14.Ne2 Qxg3 15.Nxg3 Ke7 16.c3 Be6 17.a4 a5 18.Be3 Ba7 19.d4 Rag8 20.f4 gxf4 21.Bxf4 d5 22.Be5 Rf8 23.exd5 cxd5 24.Rae1 Rhg8 25.Nf5+ Kd7 26.Nxh6 Rg6 27.Nf5 Ne4 28.Ne3 Rxf1+ 29.Rxf1 Bb6 30.g4 Bd8 31.Kg2 Kc6 32.b3 Bg5 33.Nd1 Nd2 34.Rh1 Bh4 35.b4 axb4 36.cxb4 Nc4 37.Nc3 Nxe5 38.dxe5 d4 39.Ne4 Bd5 40.Kf3 Rg8 White resigned, Jaeger - Jerome, correspondence 1880.

9...d6 10.0-0 Kf7 11.Nc3 Rf8 12.Nd5

12...Qd8

A significant improvement over 12...Qe5 of perrypawnpusher - jonathankochems, blitz FICS, 2010, which continued 13.Nxc7 Qxf4 14.Bxf4 Rb8 15.Nd5 Nxd5 16.exd5 Bf5 17.Rae1 Bb4 18.Re2 Rbc8 19.a3 Bc5 20.b4 Bd4 21.Bxd6 Rfe8 22.Rfe1 Bc3 23.Rxe8 Rxe8 24.Rxe8 Kxe8 25.Bc5 a6 26.Kf1 Bb2 27.a4 Bd7 28.a5 Ba4 29.c4 Bc2 30.Ke2 Bc3 31.Ke3 Kd7 32.Ke4 Be1 33.f4 Bc3 34.Bd4 Bxb4 35.Bb6 Kd6 36.f5 Bc3 37.g4 Bf6 38.Ke3 Ke5 39.Bc7 checkmate

13.Bd2

Stronger was 13.Be3, although Black would still have the advantage.

13...Kg8

Black has castled-by-hand, has the two Bishops, and plans to swap off White's advanced Knight, leaving doubled pawns.

White needs to stir up some trouble before the game simply settles down to being bad for him.

14.Qg3 Nxd5 15.exd5 Qf6 16.Bc3

16...Bd4 17.Rae1 Bxc3 18.bxc3 b6

19.c4 Bb7

Black's Bishop will "bite on granite" here, but the move connects his Rooks.

20.Re6 Qc3 21.Re7 Rac8

The first good news that I've had in a while: my opponent is uneasy with my Rook on the seventh. How uneasy?

22.Rfe1 Qf6

That's uneasy enough for me.

It clearly was time to go for the draw by offering to repeat the position, before my opponent thought otherwise. 

23.R1e6 Qd4 24.Re4 Qf6 25.R4e6 Qd4 26.Re4 Qf6 27.R4e6 Qd4 28.Re4 Qf6 29.R4e6 Qd4 30.Re4 Qf6 31.R4e6 Qd4 Game drawn by repetition
 
I was happy to split the point here – tomorrow, after all, is another day.