"Jerome pawns" - Clowning Around

After my discouraging loss with the Jerome Gambit in my previous Chess.com Italian Game tournament (perrypawnpusher - Buddy_Thompson), I knew that I had to cook up something new, or risk facing a future opponent who just "looked the refutation up" (and not even on this blog, mind you, but in my recent games on Chess.com).

I was happy that I did do the research, too, because in my third Jerome Gambit in my current tourney, my opponent went straight for the same line (leaving out the superfluous Queen check).

As often happens, the white "Jerome pawns" held a starring, if comic, role in the game, supporting me while mistreating the Black King horribly.

perrypawnpusher - djdave28
Chess.com Italian game tournament, 2014

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ 

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ke6 7.Qf5+ Kd6 8.f4 Qf6 9.fxe5+ Qxe5 

10.Qxe5+

This was my idea, to "surrender" to Black's plan. Exchanging Queens isn't much worse than leaving them on. I found only 30 examples of this line in The Database, including a few played by "Blackburne", Louis Morin and UNPREDICTABLE.

If we go back to the perrypawnpusher - Buddy_Thompson, Chess.com, 2014 game, however, with 8...Qh4+ 9.g3 Qf6 thrown into the move order, there are two relevant precendents: NN - Kapil Gain, Internet, 2004 (1-0, 56) and perrypawnpusher - Kevin the Fruitbat, Jerome Gambit Thematic, ChessWorld.net, 2008.(1-0, 38). Both are discussed at "Jerome Gambit Tournament: Chapter XIII".

Likewise, if we use the opening approach 7.f4 (instead of 7.Qf5+) Qf6 8.Qxe5+ Qxe5 9.fxe5 Kxe5 we reach the same position as in the game, only a move earlier. There are 13 examples of this in The Database, but only one follows our main line (see below).

10...Kxe5 11.b4

This is the reason I went into the line - it looks hokey, and the next few moves by White don't suggest that I know what I am doing, either. (It's only showed up twice - three times if we count transpositions - before in The Database.)

I was pretty sure that I had discussed the line in an email with Stefan Bücker, editor of Kaissiber, years ago; but I have not been able to find our correspondence on the topic.

11...Bb6

The alternative, 11...Bd4, was seen in two games:

Spike1.2 - Fritz 6.0, USA 2006:  12.c3 Bb6 13.d4+ Kxe4 14.Nd2+ Kf5 15.0-0+ Ke6 16.a4 a5 17.b5 Nf6 18.Ba3 Re8 19.Rae1+ Kf7 20.Rxe8 Kxe8 21.Re1+ Kf7 22.Nc4 Nd5 23.Rf1+ Ke6 24.Re1+ Kf6 25.Rf1+ Kg5 26.Bc1+ Kh4 27.Rf5 Nxc3 28.Be3 Bxd4 29.Bxd4 Ne2+ 30.Kf2 Nxd4 31.Rf4+ Kg5 32.Rxd4 b6 33.Ne3 Ra7 34.Rc4 Kf6 35.Nd5+ Ke5 36.Nxb6 cxb6 37.Rxc8 d5 38.Rh8 h6 39.Rb8 Rf7+ 40.Ke3 Rf6 41.h3 h5 42.Rh8 Rh6 43.Re8+ Re6 44.Rc8 Kd6+ 45.Kd3 h4 46.Rc2 Re4 47.Rc6+ Ke5 48.Rxb6 Rxa4 49.Ra6 Ra2 50.b6 Rxg2 51.Rxa5 Rb2 52.Ra6 g5 53.Kc3 Rb5 54.Kc2 g4 55.hxg4 Kf4 56.Ra4+ Kg5 57.Rd4 h3 58.Rd2 Rxb6 59.Rxd5+ Kh4 60.Rd2 Rf6 61.g5 Kxg5 62.Rd5+ Kg4 63.Rd1 h2 64.Kb3 Rf4 65.Ka2 Rf3 66.Rc1 Kh3 67.Rc8 Kg2 68.Rg8+ Rg3 69.Rh8 h1Q 70.Rxh1 Kxh1 71.Kb2 Kg2 72.Kc2 Kf1 73.Kd2 Rh3 74.Kc1 Ke2 75.Kc2 Rd3 White resigned;

and in

Matacz CCT7 - Imp 0.74b, 2005: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ke6 7.f4 Qf6 8.Qxe5+ Qxe5 9.fxe5 Kxe5 10.b4 Bd4 11.c3 Bb6 12.d3 d5 13.Rf1 dxe4 14.Bf4+ Ke6 15.dxe4 Nf6 16.Nd2 Bd7 17.a4 a5 18.b5 Rhf8 19.0-0-0 Rac8 20.h4 Bc5 21.Nb3 Bb6 22.c4 Nh5 23.g3 Nxf4 24.Rxf4 Ke7 25.Rxf8 Rxf8 26.Rd3 c5 27.e5 Rf1+ 28.Kb2 Re1 29.Rd6 Bc7 30.Nxc5 Bc8 31.Rd5 Rxe5 32.h5 b6 33.Na6 Rxd5 34.Nxc7 Rxh5 35.Nd5+ Kd6 36.Nxb6 Be6 37.Kc3 Kc5 38.Na8 Rh3 39.Nc7 Rxg3+ 40.Kd2 Bxc4 41.Na6+ Kd6 42.Nb8 Ra3 43.Nc6 Rxa4 44.Nd4 Kc5 45.Nf3 Kd5 46.b6 Ra3 47.Nh4 Ke4 48.b7 Rb3 49.Ng2 Rxb7 50.Ne3 Bd3 51.Nd1 Kd4 52.Ke1 a4 53.Kf2 a3 54.Kg3 Be2 White resigned

12.Bb2+ Bd4

The "idea" behind the line appeared in axykk - bromby, FICS, 2011: 12...Kxe4 13.Bxg7 Black resigned.

13.c3 Bb6 14.d4+ 

14...Kxe4

I wouldn't be surprised to find that taking the pawn isn't the strongest move (see Spike1.2 - Fritz 6.0, USA, 2006, above). It reminds me of the Blackburne Shilling Jerome Gambit line, 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nd4 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Ke6 6.c3 Kxe5 7.cxd4+ where Black has to think "homeward bound" for his King, or risk dangerous play. More prudent in our game seems 14...Ke6.

I suspect that my opponent saw the position as an endgame, in which case his King should be safe; while I saw it as a Queenless middlegame, where I still had tactical intentions. 

15.0-0 Nf6 16.Nd2+ Kd3 17.Nf3 d6 18.Rad1+ Kc4 19.Nd2+ 

I was hoping for 19...Kd3, when I was going to plan 20.Nf3+ and offer a draw. I know that's a bold thing to do, down a piece, but I thought Black's King might be feeling homesick.

19...Kb5

Again, a surprise. I thought that after 19...Kd5 I could play 20.c4+ and 21.c5 and win the piece back - hoping that my lead in development would compensate for my lack of pawns.

20.a4+

Played automatically, remembering a comment that Bill Wall once made to me, that certain moves just have to be played, not even thought over. Here, it either works, or White is doomed, anyway - I'm a piece down, and if Black's King escapes, I got nothin'... 

To my chagrin, when this game was over and I shared it will Bill, he suggested 20.c4+ instead.

20...Kxa4 21.c4 

The "Jerome pawns" do special duty, hemming in the King.

21...Kxb4 

This move, however, leads to a pie in the face. After the game, both Bill and Houdini suggested 21...d5.

22.Rf3 Black resigned

The King cannot escape checkmate.

Update: 8...Qf6

Repeating the "comments" that follow a recent blog post (see "Slaughter"):




Guido De Bouver said...
     8...Qf6 seems like a killer black reply in the position you described ? [after 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ke6 7.Qf5+ Kd6 8.f4]
     What has been tried here ?

Rick Kennedy said...
Guido,
     You are right, 8...Qf6 is strong for Black. It is at least as old as A.W. Jerome - W. Shinkman, USA, 1874 (0-1, 21).
     The Database is somewhat misleading in this regard, as it has 50 games with 8...Qf6, with White scoring 58%.
     After 9.fxe5+ Qxe5 The Database has 53 games (it picked up two games with 8...Qe7 and one with 8...Qe8) with White scoring 59%.
     White has tried 10.Qxe5+, 10.Qf8+, 10.Qg4, 10.Nc3, 10.c3 and 10.Qf3 with different degrees of success.
     10.Qf8+ scores worst (0%, 3 games) and 10.Qg4 scores best (100%, 1 game); with 10.Qf3 being the currently recommended move (71%, 27 games)
     This topic certainly deserves a post or two -- and soon! I will get to work on it.
     Thanks.




billwall - benstoker
standard game, FICS, 2010

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

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ke6

7.Qf5+ Kd6 8.f4 Qf6

9.fxe5+


The most recent coverage of the 8...Qf6 line in this blog was in the game axykk - bromby, blitz, FICS, 2011: 9.fxe5+ Qxe5 10.Qxe5+ Kxe5 11.b4 Bb6 12.Bb2+ Kxe4 13.Bxg7 Black resigned

9...Qxe5 10.Qf3

After 10.Qf3, Black has to avoid falling into the "Disdainful Defender Defense", for example, 10...Nf6 11.d3 Rf8 12.Bf4 and the Black Queen is lost. This is one of those apparent "optical illusions" that appear from time-to-time in the Jerome Gambit, and in this case it has accounted for 9 wins for White.

Instead, 10.Qf3 Nf6 22.d3, and as Jerome wrote of his last move in the April 1874 issue of the Dubuque Chess Journal, "Compelling either K or Q to move as White threatens Bf4; or Black can play ...g5" [translated to algebraic notation].

10...Nf6 11.d3 Kc6 12.c3

White has only one pawn for his sacrificed piece, and he is currently behind in developement. He works with what he has available, however: the central "Jerome pawns" and Black's misplaced King. Something will come up (see "Like the Big Boys").

12...Re8 13.b4 Bb6 14.Bf4 Qh5 15.a4 d5 16.Nd2

16...Bg4 17.Qg3 dxe4 18.d4 e3 19.Nc4 Qf5 20.0-0 Nh5

21.Nxe3 Nxg3 22.Nxf5 Nxf5 23.b5+ Kd5 24.a5 Nxd4 25.axb6 Ne2+ 26.Kh1 Nxf4 27.Rxf4 axb6 28.Rb1 Be6  White resigned

Wait a minute... White resigned?

Yes, good Readers, it is true. Losses by Bill Wall in The Database are rarer than hens' teeth, but they occasionally happen. (Cherish this one; you will probably not see another.)

Every once in a while I have to point out that the Jerome Gambit is, "officially", a refuted opening – no matter how many times we win with it! 

Like the Big Boys

I like playing over the Jerome Gambit games of Bill Wall, mrjoker and axykk. They look like patient predators, sitting, waiting, waiting, waiting... and then pouncing on their prey.

The following game of mine is a little like that. Except for the "pouncing" part.

 perrypawnpusher - pitrisko
blitz, FICS, 2011

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

I have had this position in over 30 games, scoring over 80%. I don't have it quite mastered, but I can get to it quickly (and that counts in blitz).

10.0-0 Ng4 11.Qg3

Surprisingly bad is 11.Qe2 which unravels quickly: 11...Qh4 12.h3 Nf4 13.Qf3 Ne5 14.Qc3 Ne2+ 'Nuff said.

11...Qh4

Forcing the exchange of Queens. For 11...h6 see perrypawnpusher - lorecai, blitz, FICS, 2011, (1-0, 14) and for 11...h5 see perrypawnpusher - Riversider, blitz, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 18)

12.Qxh4 Nxh4

I don't play the Jerome Gambit with a Queenless middlegame in mind, but it can't be helped. I decided a while back that in this position it didn't pay to spend any time (on the clock) worrying, I needed to make the swap and then move on.

13.f4 Nf6 14.Nc3 Ng6 15.f5 Ne5

This gives away more tempos to the "Jerome pawns", and White is now close to having full compensation for his sacrificed piece. 

16.d4 Nc6 17.e5

It was easier to decide on this move here than it was in my game against mtibuk.

17...dxe5 18.dxe5

18...Ng4

Black does not want to give the piece back with 18...Nxe5 19.Re1, etc., when White would have an edge; but perhaps he should have. 

19.e6

This move is okay, but after the game Rybka 3 preferred 19.Nb5 Kf8 20.e6 b6 21.Nxc7 Rb8 22.Bf4 with the idea 22...Bb7 23.Bd6+ Ne7 when White will be able to win the exchange with 24.Nd6, adding to his three-pawns-for-a-piece material balance and Black's blocked King Rook.

This is certainly a position I need to return to and study some more.

19...Rf8

Instead, Black had a chance to prepare a better defense by playing 19...Ne7, so that if 20.Nb5, then 20...Nd5.

20.h3

Missing 20.Nb(or d)5 entirely. It could also be played on my next move, with advantage.

20...Nf6

21.Bf4

I was happy with my game so far. I had kept everything in balance,
keeping a roughly even game, just like the "big boys", and all I needed was a slip by my opponent to take advantage of. 

21...Nb4 22.Bxc7 Nxc2 23.Rac1

Sensible.

Rybka 3's suggestion shows chess being played at a higher level than either my opponent or I were capable of in this game: 23.Rad1 (attacking the back rank) Bxe6 (forced, but useful) 24.fxe6 Ne3 (has White blundered??) 25.e7 Rg8 26.Rd8+ Kxe7 27.Rxa8 Rxa8 (White's "Jerome pawns" have disappeared, but that is all that he has to regret) 28.Re1 Kd7 29.Rxe3 Kxc7 30.Re7+ Kc6 31.Rxg7. White has won a pawn, but the endgame looks tricky.

Strong chess players can get blood from a stone.

23...Ne3 24.Rf3 Ned5 25.Nxd5 Nxd5 26.Bd6 Ne7

Finally Black slips, and it is time to pounce!

27.Rfc3

No, this not it. It is a paw swipe, not a pounce.

With the pressure from 27.Rc7  Black is forced to liquidate with 27...Nxf5 28.Bxf8 Bxe6 29.Bxg7 Rd8 30.g4 Nxg7 31.Rxg7 Rd7 32.Rxd7 Kxd7 and White is up the exchange and a pawn.

That is not a lot, but it is enough to win the endgame.
Black now wisely gives back his extra piece for the two "Jerome pawns" and the game slides into a draw...

I pursued things for a while, waiting for another chance to "pounce" but it was not to be.

27...Rxf5 28.Bxe7 Kxe7 29.Rxc8 Rxc8 30.Rxc8 Kxe6 31.Rc7 Rf7 32.Rxf7 Kxf7 33.Kf2 Ke6 34.Ke3 Kd5 35.Kd3 h5 36.h4 Ke5 37.Ke3 Kf5 38.Kf3 g5 39.hxg5 Kxg5 40.Kg3 Kf5 41.Kh4 Kg6 42.g4 hxg4 43.Kxg4 Kf6 44.Kf4 Ke6 45.Ke4 Kd6 46.Kd4 Kc6 47.Kc4 b6 48.a4 a6 49.b3 b5+ bxa4 51.bxa4 Kb6 52.a5+ Kc6 53.Kc4 Kd6 54.Kd4 Game drawn by mutual agreement

Waiting

I enjoy playing over the games of axykk (see "La la la la la...", "Say, what...?" and "Making It"), a player at FICS apparently new to the Jerome Gambit. He shows a lot of cool patience while playing down material, waiting for an opportunity for success to come his way. (With a little more endgame knowledge, his opponent could have foiled his plans.)

axykk - ElFuriozo
blitz, FICS, 2011

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

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

7.Qxe5 Qe7 8.Qxe7+

Confidently going into the Queenless middlegame.

8...Nxe7 9.d3 d6 10.Be3 Bxe3 11.fxe3 g6

Black really hasn't done anything wrong yet, and still holds the extra piece for White's two (doubled) "Jerome pawns".

As far as White is concerned, the game is barely started.

12.0-0+ Kg7 13.Nd2 Be6 14.Nf3 Rhf8 15.Nd4 Rxf1+ 16.Rxf1 Bd7

17.Rf4 a6 18.c4 Nc6 19.Nxc6 bxc6 20.Kf1 Rb8 21.b3 a5

The game continues. White simply "plays chess" and waits for the "time bomb" (inevitiable blunder) to go off in his opponent's camp.

22.Rf2 Be6 23.Ke2 d5 24.exd5 cxd5 25.cxd5 Bxd5 26.e4 Be6

White's pawns are looking healthier, and one of them is protected and passed.

27.d4 c6 28.Kd3 a4 29.bxa4 Ra8 30.Rc2 Rxa4 31.Rxc6 Ra3+ 32.Ke2 Bg4+ 33.Kf2 Rxa2+ 34.Kg3 h5

The game is beginning to look even, with White's "Jerome pawn" passers balancing out Black's Bishop; but, as the game shows, the first player has practical winning chances.

35.h3 Ra3+ 36.Kf4 Be2 37.Rc7+ Kf6 38.h4 Ra6 39.e5+ Ke6 40.Ke4 Ra4 41.Rg7 Bg4 42.Rxg6+ Kf7 43.Rf6+ Ke7 44.Rh6 Ra2

45.Rh7+ Kf8 46.g3 Rg2 47.d5 Rxg3 48.e6

Now it is time for Black to return the Bishop and secure the draw with 48...Bxe6 49.dxe6 Rg4+ 50.Kf5 Rxh4. White will be unable to deal both with the checks to his King and Black's h-pawn at the same time; he will need to split the point.

48...Rf3 49.d6

All is not lost yet for Black. If he exchanges Rooks now, he can still sacrifice his Bishop and then take advantage of the unique defensive chance given to those who fight against a Rook pawn.

Thus, 49...Bf5+ 50.Kxf3 Bxh7 would accomplish the first step, and after 51.Kf4, then 51...Bg8 52.Ke5 Bxe6 53.Kxe6 Ke8 would accomplish the second.

White would then discover, to his dismay, that, abandoning his d-pawn to use as a distraction while he goes to free up his h-pawn, is not enough: 54.Kf6 Kd7 55.Kg5 Kxd6 56.Kxh5 Ke7 57.Kg6 Kf8 58.h5 Kg8 and Black's King will get to h8 to stop the pawn. 

If, instead, White decides to hold onto his d-pawn with 55.Ke5 (instead of 55.Kg5) and not run to the Kingside, Black can cooly play 55...Kd8, staying in front of the passer. It looks then like White has gained something, as his King can now beat the enemy King to the defensive square h8, but this, still, is not enough to win, as there is another oddity related to the h-pawn. Thus: 56.Kf6 Kd7 57.Kg6 Kxd6 58.Kxh5 Ke7 59.Kg6 Kf8 60.Kh7 ("Ha!") Kf7 ("Ha! Ha!") and White's King, himself, is in the way of his advancing pawn. If it moves out of the way, Black's King moves in to defend. If White only moves his pawn, Black will tempo his King back and forth from f7 to f8, and stalemate will be reached.

49... Rf6

Alas, this will not do.

50.e7+ Ke8 and Black resigned.
 

Making It

While it often seems the case that "Good players are lucky," it would be more fair to say, instead, that "Good players make their own luck."

Take the following Jerome Gambit game, where White is able to fashion a whole point out of absolutely nothing.

axykk  - ElFuriozo
blitz, FICS, 2011

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

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

7.Qxc5 d6 8.Qd5+ Be6

White threatens a pawn grab, and Black decides to let him have it.

9.Qxb7

A calculated risk. Given that Rybka 3 says that the best move for Black now is 9...Nh4!? I think that axykk has guessed right that his opponent won't find or play the kind of move that this position requires.

9...Nf6 10.d3 Rf8

Consolidating by castling-by-hand.

This is very prudent, but, again, to squeeze the most out of the position, Black needed to try 10...Nh4. As it is, the game is moving toward "even".

11.f4 Nh5 12.f5

This can, however, be considered pushing his luck too far. For White there is a piece to be won, but also a King to be lost. (Castling first keeps the game about even.)

12...Qh4+

Of course. These kinds of things happen occasionally when you give "Jerome Gambit odds". There's nothing to do but ride them out and keep your eyes open for opportunities...

13.Kd2 Qf2+ 14.Kc3

If you sacrifice a piece in the opening for an attack and it is your opponent who ends up threatening checkmate within ten moves, then something has gone wrong. - IM Gary Lane

14...Qc5+ 15.Kd2 Kg8 16.fxe6

Brazen.

On the other hand, if White's King survives, he will have a surplus of material.

16...Rf2+ 17.Ke1 Raf8

 18.Qb3 Kh8 19.Qc3 Rxg2

Let him double Rooks on the 2nd rank, or get his Queen there, and Black will finish up with gusto.

20.Qxc5 dxc5

Getting the Queens off the board, however, was a major coup for White. Now, despite his horrible lack of development, the two extra pawns give him the better game!

21.Na3 Nhf4 22.Bxf4 Nxf4 23.e7 Re8 24.Rf1 g5 25.h4 h6

This is all so very troubling for Black. There is no win any more, just the worry: how will his fractured and outnumbered pawns hold up against White's connected, healthy ones?

He will simply be ground down.

26.Rc1 Rxe7 27.hxg5 hxg5 28.Rf2 Rg1+ 29.Kd2 Rxc1 30.Kxc1 Kg7

After all the excitement, it looks as if White had simply castled Queenside.

31.Nc4 Nh3 32.Rf5 Kg6 33.Rxc5 g4 34.Ne3 g3 35.Nf5 Re5 36.Rc6+  Black resigned

Say, what...?

While playing against an opponent who has a sense of what is going on in the Jerome Gambit is one thing (see, for example, "La la la la la..."), playing against an opponent who seems to be bamboozled can be quite another, as axykk demonstrates...


axykk - bromby
blitz, FICS, 2011

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

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ke6

When Black makes this move it usually means that either he is new to the Jerome Gambit, and wants to hang on to the second piece, or that he has studied the Jerome Gambit and this is the defensive system that he is most comfortable with.

The Database indicates that bromby faced and defeated a "modern" Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.d3) in 2006; and drew and won against Petasluk in 2009 in a couple of 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ng6 games. So: not necessarily "new" to the Jerome Gambit, but is he prepared ?

7.Qf5+ Kd6 8.f4 Qf6

A solid defense, as we know from analysis dating back to Alonzo Wheeler Jerome and the April 1874 issue of the Dubuque Chess Journal. Over the years, Shinkman, Jaeger, Colburn and Charles beat the opening's "inventor" with it.

9.fxe5+ Qxe5 10.Qxe5+

This is a relatively new idea, as opposed to retreating the Queen to f3. The Database has games with this move by Louis Morin in each of 2001, 2002, and 2003, all wins.

I don't think that bromby was quite prepared for it.

10...Kxe5 11.b4

" 'Freedom' 's just another word for 'nothing left to lose' " as the song goes. Axykk can play freely with the White pieces, as he's already had a "lost" game since move 4. What is the worst thing that can happen now?

11...Bb6

Suspicious of White's motives, Black retreats.

It seems silly to point out that 11...Bd4 12.c3 Bb6 13.d4+ Kxe4 was better – not everyone wants to know what happens after 14.Nd2+ Kf5 15.0-0+, especially against a higher-rated player at blitz speed.

12.Bb2+ Kxe4

Befuddled. At a distance we can recommend the same notion as above, with 12...Bd4 13.c3 Bb6 14.d4+ and even after 14...Kxe4 Black will be better.

13.Bxg7

Black resigned

It might have been worth hanging around to try (wait for it...) 13...Bd4, as White would have to find 14.Nc3+ to keep his edge, i.e. 14...Bxc3 (nothing else comes close to working) 15.dxc3 Ne7 16.Bxh8 when White would be a solid exchange ahead, and his Kingside pawn majority would spell future trouble for Black.