It is good to remember that your ultimate goal is to checkmate the enemy King. If you have some fun along the way, so much the better.
JoeBau - sailingsoul
FICS, 2019
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 h6
The Semi-Italian opening. It is sometimes referred to as the "Anti-Fried Liver Defense", aimed at preventing a White Knight from moving to g5, i.e. 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Ng5 d5 5.exd5 Nxd5 6.Nxf7 Kxf7
4.Nc3 Bc5 5.Bxf7+
Now we have the Semi-Italian Jerome Gambit
5...Kxf7 6.Nxe5+ Nxe5 7.Qh5+ Ke6
Black would like to hold on to his extra material. He has a few games in The Database, so, perhaps he sees the position as simply a "standard" Jerome Gambit - with the addition of ...h6 and Nc3.
(By the way, in 6 out of his 8 games with the White pieces, he played Nf3-g5, which may reflect on his interest in ...h6, as a defensive move, as indicated in the note, above.)
8.Qf5+ Kd6 9.Nb5+ Kc6 10.Qxe5 Kxb5 11.a4+
Well played: the target is the King. It would be out of place to pawn-grab with 11.Qxg7, which would be well met by 11...Qf6, with Black advantage.
11...Kc6
Safer was 11...Ka6 12.Qxc5 b6 and the King will find refuge at b7.
12.Qd5+ Kb6 13.b4
Nice: Black's Bishop can not move without allowing checkmate at b5 - or can it? It is not immediataly clear that 13.a5+ Ka6 should have been interpolated, first.
13...Bxf2+
This is very interesting. The defender returns material; this can be followed by a timely ...a5, giving the King an escape square at a7 - that is why 13.a5+ was best, earlier, to chase the King over to block that move.
14.Kxf2 Qf6+
Not all Queen checks are the same. The only one that escapes checkmate is 14...Qf8+, controlling the c5 square, e.g. 15.Ke2 a5 16.Qd4+ c5 17.bxc5+ Kc6 when White has compensation (safer King, better development) for his sacrificed material (2 pawns for a piece).
15.Ke2 c6 16.Qa5 checkmate
