It had been months since I had played the Jerome Gambit at blitz speed, and I worried that I might have forgotten too much. The following game, however, shows that the opening was as reliable as ever for me.
perrypawnpusher - grosshirn
2 19 blitz, FICS, 2016
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+
4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ke6 7.Qf5+ Kd6 8.f4 Ng6
Somewhat inexact. See the note (below) to White's 11th move.
9.Qd5+ Ke7 10. Qxc5+ d6
Better than 10...Ke8 as seen in perrypawnpusher - parlance, blitz, FICS, 2011 (0-1, 22).
11.Qe3
After 11 moves we have reached a position in which White has an extra move (f2-f4) in comparison to the line 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ng6 7.Qd5+ Ke7 8.Qxc5+ d6 9.Qe3. So, if Black wants to give up his King's Bishop and post his Knight at g6, 6...Ng6 might have been a better choice.
Interestingly, Stockfish 7 recommends the alternate retreat 11.Qc3 (no example in The Database), suggesting that Black meet that with 11...Kf8 (11...Nxf4?12.Qxg7+ Ke8 13.O-O Qf6 14.Qxf6 Ne2+ 15.Kf2 Nxf6 16.Kxe2 Nxe4 with advantage to White) 12.O-O Nf6 13.f5 Ne5 14.d4 Nc6 15.e5 dxe5 16.dxe5 Qd4+ 17.Qxd4 Nxd4 18.Na3 Ne8) with an equal game.
11...Nf6
The text is about equal to 11...Kf8 (perrypawnpusher - Valseg, blitz, FICS, 2011 [1-0, 39]), better than 11...Bd7 (perrypawnpusher - GabrielChime, blitz, FICS, 2009 [1-0, 29]), and much better than 11...Be6 (perrypawnpusher - MrNatewood, blitz, FICS, 2010 [1-0, 12]).
12.O-O
Or 12.d4 as in perrypawnpusher - thinan, blitz, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 31).
12...Rf8
This seems reasonable at first glance, as Black is considering castling-by-hand. However, 12...Re8 was probably better, as in perrypawnpusher - spydersweb, blitz, FICS, 2012 (1-0, 24) and perrypawnpusher - tjaksi, blitz, FICS, 2014 (1-0, 18).
13.f5 Ne5 14.d4 Nc4 15.Qd3 Nb6 16.Bg5 h6 17.Bh4 Nbd7
Black has covered up with his pieces, and still has his piece-for-two-pawns material advantage, but White's "Jerome pawns" and freer development give him the advantage.
18.Nc3 c6 19.Rae1 Qb6 20.Kh1 Ke8
Breaking the pin on his Knight, but White is ready to crash through, anyhow.
21.e5 dxe5 22.dxe5 Ng8 23.f6
Even better, according to Stockfish 7 after the game, was 23.Ne4 Ne7 24.Qd6 Rf7 25.e6 with a forced checkmate.
23...gxf6 24.exf6+ Kd8 Black resigned
Checkmate will be coming soon after 25.f7+.
What "chances" White has in the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) come from a myriad of sources, not the least of which is opponent loss of focus or intensity. Too many games have ended up "1-0" because the defender did not see the necessity of putting all of his skill to use against a foolish, refuted opening.
perrypawnpusher - spydersweb
blitz, FICS, 2012
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+
4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ke6 7.Qf5+ Kd6 8.f4 Ng6
Since one of the time-proven strategies to defuse the Jerome Gambit has been returning a piece, this defense can not technically be considered "bad".
Yet, after 11 moves (see diagram below) the players reach a position in which White has an extra move (f2-f4) in comparison to the line 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ng6 7.Qd5+ Ke7 8.Qxc5+ d6 9.Qe3. So, if Black wants to give up his King's Bishop and post his Knight at g6, the alternative might be a better choice.
9.Qd5+ Ke7 10.Qxc5+ d6
10...Ke8 is an alternative, as in perrypawnpusher - parlance, blitz, FICS, 2011 (0-1, 22).
11.Qe3
Notable is 11.Qf2 Nf6 12.d3 Rf8 13.0-0 Kf7 14.Nc3 Kg8 15.f5 Ne5 16.Bg5 Nf7 17.Bh4 c6 18.Ne2 Ne5 19.h3 Bd7 20.g4 h6 21.Nf4 a6 22.Rae1 Qe7 23.d4 Nf7 24.Ng6 Qd8 25.Nxf8 Qxf8 26.Bxf6 gxf6 27.h4 Kg7 28.Kh2 Qe7 29.Qf4 Re8 30.Rg1 Kh7 31.c3 Rg8 32.Re3 Rg7 33.Reg3 Bc8 34.g5 fxg5 35.hxg5 Nxg5 36.f6 Qf7 37.Qh4 Qxf6 38.Qh5 Qf4 39.e5 dxe5 40.dxe5 Qxe5 41.Kh1 Be6 42.Qd1 Bd5+ 43.Kh2 Nf3+ 44.Kh3 Nxg1+ 45.Rxg1 Qe3+ 46.Kh2 Qf2+ 47.Kh3 Rxg1 White reigned, guest725 - guest114, Internet Chess Club, 2002.
11...Nf6
Alternatives:
11...Kf8, perrypawnpusher - Valseg, blitz, FICS, 2011 (1-0, 39);
11...Be6 12.f5 Black resigned, perrypawnpusher - MrNatewood, blitz, FICS, 2010;
11...Bd7 perrypawnpusher - GabrielChime, blitz, FICS,2009 (1-0, 29).
12.0-0
It is probably better to tuck away the King first than create a broad center with 12.d4, as in perrypawnpusher - thinan, blitz, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 31).
Also seen was 12.Nc3 as in mrjoker - PhlebasP, Internet Chess Club, 2008 (0-1, 34).
12...Re8 13.f5 Ne5 14.d4 Neg4
It's always fun to harass the Queen, but 14...Nc6 was the right idea, as White then does not get much with 15.e5 Kf8 16.e6. Instead, I had planned on 15.Qd3 Kf8 16.Bg5.
15.Qd3 Kf8 16.Bg5
A bit better might have been the thematic 16.h3 Nh6 17.Bxh6 gxh6 18.Nd2
16...h6 17.Bxf6
This capture is not actually necessary as 17.Bh4 g5 18.fxg6 leads to an advantage for White. Best for Black after 17.Bh4 would be 17...h5, giving Black's advanced Knight a retreat square. Still, the second player's Kingside looks weakened, and White would probably not be worse.
17...Qxf6
The Queen is poorly placed only because the Knight is poorly placed. Better was 17...Nxf6 18.Nc3 with an edge to Black.
18.h3 Ne5
Played perhaps a bit too automatically. Play looks relatively equal after 18...d5 19.hxg4 Rxe4 20.c3 Rxg4 21.Nd2 c6 22.Rae1 Bd7.
19.dxe5 Qxe5 20.Nc3
How many times has White's advantage in the Jerome come down to better development, while Black's Queen Bishop sits at home, cutting off his Queen's Bishop?
20...c6 21.Rad1 d5
A miscalculation.
22.exd5 c5
Better, but not saving, was 22...Qe3+ 23.Qxe3 Rxe3 24.dxc6 bxc6.
23.f6 g5 24.Qg6 Black resigned
I am sure that the following game does not show my opponent at his best. He was probably just having a bad day, maybe experiencing some kind of an attack... Perhaps a bad case of Jerome Gambit-itis?
perrypawnpusher - Valseg
blitz, FICS, 2011
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+
The Jerome Gambit.
4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ke6
7.Qf5+ Kd6 8.f4 Ng6
This move transposes to the 6...Ng6 line, although a comparison, i.e. 7.Qd5+ Ke7 8.Qxc5+ d6 9.Qe3, will show that in the current game White picks up the extra move f2-f4.
9.Qd5+ Ke7 10.Qxc5+ d6 11.Qe3
Although Rybka 3 and Fritz 8 still see Black as better (i.e. the extra piece outweighs the extra pawns) my opponent was uncomfortable enough with his King's placement to now move it off of the e-file.
11...Kf8 12.0-0 Nf6 13.f5 Ne5 14.d4 Neg4
While this position seems to be unique in The Database, there are 20 games with the particular arrangement of Black Knights and White Queen with her d-, e- and f-pawns. White scores 78%.
Instead of kicking the Queen, the Knight should have retired to c6.
15.Qg3 Kf7
Still nervous about the placement of his King. After the game, Rybka 3 suggested 15...h5.
16.e5
This is premature, as after 16...dxe5 17.dxe5 Black has the simple 17...Qd4+ followed by 18...Qxe5.
16...Bxf5
Probably an oversight. Black's game now falls apart, despite strong effort on his part.
17.Rxf5 Rg8 18.exf6
Relying on the pin, 18.Qxg4 first was stronger.
18...gxf6
19.Qf3 c6 20.Nc3 d5 21.h3 Qe7 22.hxg4 Qe1+ 23.Qf1 Qh4 24.Be3 Rae8
25.Re1 Rxg4 26.Bf2 Qh6 27.Rxe8 Kxe8 28.Qe2+ Re4 29.Nxe4 Qc1+
30.Be1 Kd8 31.Nxf6 Qxb2 32.Qe8+ Kc7 33.Bg3+ Kb6 34.Nd7+ Ka6 35.Qe2+ b5 36.Nc5+ Kb6 37.Qd2 Qxa2 38.Rf7 Qa3 39.Rb7 checkmate
