InstantChess

A recent internet search brought me to the online site InstantChess.com, where I discovered a player from the United Arab Emirates with the handle SA3OD who plays the Jerome Gambit - and who likes to play Bxf7+ in other circumstances as well. The following very exciting game, with another in the notes, gives an example of his style in lightning chess, which is defined by the site as 1 to 4 minutes per game. (Fast!) His opponent, Zmei Gorinich, is from the Russian Federation.

SA3OD - Gorinich, Zmei
lightning, InstantChess.com, 2016

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.d4 

The Italian Gambit, highlighted in The Italian Gambit System (2006) by Jude Acers and George Laven. I love the comment on the move in the November 1874 Dubuque Chess Journal: "Brilliant but not sound."

I am still exploring the InstantChess website, and have found one (I am sure that there are more) of SA3OD's Jerome Gambits (also at lightning time control) against Gorinich: 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.d4 (this move scores 38% in 2,154 games in The Database) Bxd4 6.Nxd4 Nxd4 7.Qh5+ Kf8 8.Qd1 {TN} Nf6 9.c3 Ne6 10.O-O d6 11.Na3 Kf7 12.Bg5 Rf8 13.Nc4 Nxg5 14.Ne3 Kg8 15.Nf5 Bxf5 16.exf5 Qe8 17.h4 Nge4 18.g4 Qc6 19.g5 Nd5 20.f6 Nf4 21.fxg7 Kxg7 22.f3 Ng3 23.Kh2 Nxf1+ 24.Qxf1 Nh5 25.Kh3 Rxf3+ 26.Qxf3 Qxf3+ 27.Kh2 Qg3+ 28.Kh1 Qxh4+ 29.Kg2 Qg3+ 30.Kf1 Rf8+ 31.Ke2 Qf2+ 32.Kd3 Nf4+ 33.Kc4 a6 34.Kb3 b5 35.a4 bxa4+ 36.Rxa4 Rb8+ 37.Ka3 Qc2 38.Rb4 Rxb4 39.cxb4 Nd3 40.g6 Qxb2+ 41.Ka4 Qxb4 checkmate.

4...exd4 5.Bxf7+ Kxf7 6.Ng5+ 

This move is at least as old as Wright - Hunn, Pine Bluff, Arkansas, 1874 (0-1, 18).

6...Kf8 7.Qf3+

Next time he might look (if he hasn't already) at the goofy 7.Qh5 Qf6 8.Nxh7 Rxh7 9.Qxh7.

7...Nf6 8.O-O Ne5 9.Qb3 h6 10.f4

White is thinking: Attack!

10...hxg5 11.fxe5 Qe8

In a lightning tempo game there is not always time to catch subtleties. Here, Black should have first played 11...e3+, putting a road block in front of White's Queen, and then moved his own Queen to e8. After 12.Kh1 Qe8, White could not afford to capture Black's Knight with 13.exf6? - we will see why, shortly. 

12.exf6

White, in turn, misses his opportunity. He needed to play 12.Qg3! when he could then safely capture Black's Knight, e.g. 12...d6 13.exf6. The position would then be unclear, but probably balanced. Stockfish 7 gives the wild continuation: 13...Rh5 14.Bxg5 Qg6 15.h4 d3+ 16.Kh2 dxc2 17.Nc3 Qxg5!? 18.Qxg5 Rxg5 19.hxg5 Be3 20.g6 Be6 21.f7 when Black will eventually regain the exchange for his advanced c-pawn.

12...d3+ 13.Kh1 Rxh2+!

Nice. Forces chekmate. (Or: it should.)

14.Kxh2 Qh5+ 15.Kg3 Qh4+ 16.Kf3 gxf6 

Oh, no! With 16...d5 Black would threaten mate with ...dxe4. Time must have been short. Now White has 17.cxd3! and his defense would hold.

 17.Qxd3 d6

Yikes! White's slip on move 17 gives Black another chance to play...d5. The pawn two-step would help open the d-file, giving the second player strong play against the enemy King: 7...d5 18.Ke2 Bg4+ 19.Kd2 dxe4 20.Qxe4 Rd8+ 21.Kc3 Bd4+ 22.Kb3 Rd6 etc.

18.Nc3

Zeitnot. White's King could, instead, play 18.Ke2 as in the previous note, and survive because of the closed d-file. 

18...Qg4 checkmate

Fun!

Brave Play

Using the opening explorer at lichess.org mentioned in "New Resource" in the previous post, I came across the following very exciting game. The Jerome Gambit player may well be familiar with this opening, in which case I feel I owe him some attention, some support, some encouragement and some assistance for his brave play. The games in the notes are well worth playing over, as they contain relevant themes of attack and defense.

killer23111953 - slava55
10 0 blitz, lichess.org, 2016

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 h6 

The Semi-Italian Game.

4.Nc3 Bc5 5.Bxf7+ 

The Semi-Italian Jerome Gambit.

5...Kxf7 6.Nxe5+ Nxe5 7.Qh5+ Ke6 8.Qf5+ Kd6

Here we have a very unbalanced position. White has sacrificed 2 (!) pieces to drag the enemy King into the middle of the board.

The Database has 9 games with this position, with White scoring 56% (5 wins, 4 losses). It is useful to share some of these games and some related analysis.

9.Nb5+

About equal in strength to the text is Stockfish 7's suggestion 9.b4, i.e. 9...Bd4 10.Nb5+ Ke7 11.Nxd4 d6 12.Qf4 Nf6 13.O-O when White also recovers one of his sacrificed pieces.

Aggressive, but not enough is 9.d4, i.e. 9...Bxd4 10.Bf4 Bxc3+ 11.bxc3 Qf6 12.O-O-O+ Kc5 13.Rd5+ Kc6 14.Rxe5 Qxf5 15.exf5 d6 16.Re8 b6 17.Rd1 Bb7 18.Re4 Kd7 19.Re3 Nf6 20.Rg3 Rhg8 21.Rg6 Ne4 22.Re1 Rge8 23.Rxg7+ Kc6 24.c4 Nxf2 25.Rge7 Rxe7 26.Rxe7 Ba6 27.Bxh6 Bxc4 28.f6 Ng4 29.Bg7 Ne5 30.h3 Bxa2 31.g4 a5 32.g5 Ng6 33.Re2 Nf4 34.Rh2 a4 35.h4 Nh5 36.Kb2 Bd5 37.Rd2 a3+ 38.Ka1 a2 39.Rxd5 Kxd5 40.f7 Nxg7 41.g6 Ke6 42.h5 Nxh5 43.f8=Q Rxf8 44.Kxa2 Kf6 White resigned, swamishashi - wdiedrich, 8 0 blitz, lichess.com, 2015.

9...Kc6

Not 9...Ke7 10.Qxe5+ Kf8 11.Qxc5+ d6 12.Qxc7 Black resigned, morphyavatar - noobtwokey, FICS, 2013. 

10.Qxe5

Again 10.d4 is insufficient, if messy: 10...Kxb5 11.Qxe5 d6 (11... Qe7 12. a4+ Ka6 13.Qxc7 Qxe4+ 14. Be3 Qc6 15. Qxc6+ dxc6 16. dxc5 Nf6 17. O-O-O Nd5 18. c4 Nxe3 19. fxe3 Ka5 20. Kc2 Kb4 21. Ra1 Kxc4 22. Rhd1 Kxc5 23. a5 Bf5+ 24. Kc3 Rad8
25. Rxd8 Rxd8 26. Ra4 Rd3+ 27. Kc2 Ra3+ White resigned, coder3 - more, GameKnot.com, 2004) 12. Qd5 (12. Qxg7 Qf6 13. a4+ Kc6 14. d5+ Kb6 15. a5+ Ka6 16. Qg3 b5 17. axb6+ Kb7 18. bxc7 Kxc7 19. O-O Bd7 20. Be3 Ne7 21. Bxc5 Rhg8 22. Bxd6+ Qxd6 23. Qc3+ Kd8 24. f4 Qg6 25. g3 Qxe4 26. Qa5+ Ke8 27. Rae1 Qd4+ 28. Rf2 h5 29. Qa3 Rg7 30. d6 h4 31. Kg2 hxg3 32.
hxg3 Qd5+ 33. Kg1 Rh7 34. Rf3 Qd4+ 35. Rfe3 Black forfeited on time, MIG - Tshark, FICS, 2003) 12...Ne7 (allows mate) 13. a4+ Ka6 14. Qc4+ b5 15. Qxb5 checkmate, Manishsprasad - TimJonez, FICS, 2010. 

10...Qf6

Black avoids the tempting capture, 10...Kxb5: 11.a4+ Kb6 (better is 11...Ka6 12.Qxc5) 12.a5+ (12.d4 d6 13.dxc5+ dxc5 14.Qxg7 [14. a5+ Ka6 15.Qxc5 b6 16. axb6+ Kb7 17. bxa7 Qd6 18. Qb5+ Qb6 19. Qd5+ Qc6 20. Qb3+ Qb6 21.Qf7 Qb4+ 22. c3 Qxe4+ 23. Be3 Be6 24. Qxg7 Ne7 25. Qxe7 Rhe8 26. Qc5 Qxg2 27.Qb5+ Kc8 28. Qxe8+ Kb7 29. Qb5+ Kc8 30. Qa6+ Kd8 31. O-O-O+ Black resigned, MIG - jirikb, FICS, 2000] 14... Ne7 15. Be3 Rg8 16.Qxh6+ c6 17. a5+ Kc7 18. Bxc5 Rxg2 19. Qf4+ Kd7 20. Rd1+ Black resigned, avgur - rajpal, FICS, 2009) 12... Kb5 13. c4+ Kxc4 14. Qc3+ Kb5 15. Qd3+ Kc6 16. Qd5+ Kb5 17. Qd3+ Kc6 18. Qd5+ Kb5 19. d4 c6 20. Qxc5+ Ka6 21. b4 Nf6 22. b5+ cxb5 23. Qd6+ b6 24. axb6+ Kb7 25.bxa7 Rxa7 26. Rxa7+ Kxa7 27. O-O Qb6 28. Be3 Qxd6 29. e5 Qa3 30. d5+ Kb7 31.exf6 gxf6 32. d6 Qxd6 33. Ra1 Kc7 34. g3 b4 35. Bf4 Qxf4 36. gxf4 Bb7 37. Ra7 b3 38. Ra1 Be4 39. Kf1 b2 40. Ra7+ Kb6 41. Rxd7 b1=Q+ White resigned,  Sanrink - wojowhiskey, FICS, 2012.

A couple of alternatives that transpose into each other are: 10...d6 11.Nd4+ Bxd4 12.Qxd4 Nf6 and 10...Nf6 11.Nd4+ Bxd4 12.Qxd4 d6. 

11.Qd5+

Continuing to force the issue, but missing 11.Qxc7+!? Kxb5 12.a4+ Ka6 (other moves allow mate) 13.Qxc5 b6 14.Qa3 Qe7 15.Qd3+ Kb7 16.Qd5+ Kc7 17.d3 Bb7 18.Bf4+ d6 19.Qc4+ Kd7 when Black's King has escaped to relative safety, but it is likely that White's three extra pawns outweigh Black's extra piece.

This is a 10-minute game, and the advantages can go back and forth. 

11...Kxb5 12.O-O

Instead, Stockfish 7 suggests that with 12.a4+ Kb6 13.a5+ Ka6 14.Qxc5 Qc6 15.Qd4 Qxc2 16.d3 Ne7 17.O-O d6 18.Be3 Nc6 the game would be equal. Of course, that's easy for a computer to say. It looks like a big mess to me. 

12...Ne7 13.a4+ 

After Black's last, inaccurate move, White's attack gives him slightly better chances.

13...Kb6 14.Qb3+

Going after the King. Stronger was 14.a5+ Ka6 15.Qxc5, going after the piece. 

14...Kc6 15.Qb5+ Kd6

Black's King remains uneasy, but the defender pulls his position together.

16.c3 c6 17.Qd3+ Kc7 18.b4 Bxb4 19.Bb2 Ba5 

20.e5 Qxe5 21.Rae1 Qg5 22.Re3 Nd5 23.Rg3 Nf4 24.Qe4 Qf6 25.Rf3 g5 26.Kh1 d5 

27.Qe1 Qd6 28.Kg1 Bd7 29.Qa1 Rhe8 30.Ba3 Qe6 

White continues to fight, but with Black's improved development and time a factor, the Hunter has become the Hunted.

31.Re3 Qg4 32.g3 Rxe3 33.dxe3 Nh5 34.Bb4 Bb6 35.Qe1 Qf3 36.a5 Bh3 37.axb6+ axb6 38.Qd1 Qg2 checkmate

An exciting game in a very sharp variation!

New Resource!

I recently received an exciting email from Philidor1792

Hello, Rick!I don't know whether you know this or not, but today lichess.org opened a new service of opening explorer with thousands of Jerome gambit games! Great news for any chess fun!Philidor1792

I went to the lichess.org site and started exploring. One of the first games that caught my eye was a 10-minute one, which I will present. Note: the game is annotated by the lichess.org computer, for extra interest! (My additional comments are in red - Rick.)

ninadrsane - anakmedan2555
10 0, lichess.org, 2015

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+? 

C51 Italian Game: Jerome Gambit (0.28 ? -1.59) Mistake. Best move was c3. (4. c3 Nf6 5. d4)

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ke6?! 

(-1.60 ? -0.81) Inaccuracy. Best move was Kf8. (6...Kf8 7.Qxe5 d6 8.Qg3 Nf6 9.Nc3 Kf7 10.d3 Be6 11.Be3 Bxe3 12.fxe3 Rf8 13.O-O Kg8 14.Rf3 Kh8 15.Raf1 Qd7 16.h3)

Interesting. The computer prefers the solid King retreat of the Jerome Defense to the Jerome Gambit, instead of the more risky (more danger, more possible gain) King advance. 

7.f4 Qf6 8.Rf1 d6

An odd novelty, and not a good one, although the reasoning behind it is clear. More frequently seen is 8...g6.

9.fxe5 Qg6 10.Qe2 Ne7?

(-1.05 ? 0.35) Mistake. Best move was Kd7. (10...Kd7 11.Nc3
Ne7 12.exd6 cxd6 13.d4 Bb4 14.Bf4 Kd8 15.h3 Bd7 16.O-O-O Rc8 17.Rd3 Bxc3 18.Rg3 Qf7 19.bxc3 Rf8 20.Kb1) Messy.

11.d4 Bb4+?

(0.25 ? 1.92) Mistake. Best move was Bb6. (11...Bb6 12.d5+ Kd7 13.e6+ Kd8 14.Nc3 a5 15.e5 Bd4 16.exd6 Bxc3+ 17.bxc3 cxd6 18.c4 b5 19.Be3 Rb8 20.Ba7) Very messy.

12.c3 Ba5 13.Rf3 dxe5 14.Rg3 Qf7 15.Qc4+ Kf6?!

(16.59 ? Mate in 7) Checkmate is now unavoidable. Best move was Kd6.  (15...Kd6 16.Qxf7 Bg4 17.Bg5 Rae8 18.Bxe7+ Kd7 19.Bb4+ Kc8 20.Bxa5 Bd7 21.Rxg7) 

16.dxe5+ Black resigned

A game that Alonzo Wheeler Jerome surely would have smiled at!

Countering A Gambit With A Gambit

In the following game it is likely that White was expecting an exciting, quick blitz game with a dangerous attack; but he probably didn't expect to be on the receiving end of the aggression.

Philidor1792 again shows that lessons from the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) can be applied elsewhere, even on defense.

guest211 - Philidor1792
blitz 3 0, www.bereg.ru, 2016

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.b4 Bb6 5.a4 Nf6 

Varying from 5...f5 in guest443 - Philidor1792, blitz 3 0, www.bereg.ru, 2016.

6.a5 Bxf2+

Philidor1792 faced this last year: Philidor 1792 - guest234blitz, 3 0, www.bereg.ru, 2015 (0-1, 19)

7.Kxf2 Nxe4+ 8.Kg1 d5 9.Bb3 Qd6

10.d3 Nf6 11.Bg5 Qxb4 12.Bxf6 gxf6 13.Nbd2 Rg8

14.h3 Be6 15.Kh2 Qf4+ 16.Kg1 O-O-O

17.Qe2 f5 18.a6 b6 19.Ba4 Nd4 20.Qxe5 Nxf3+ 21.Nxf3 Qxf3 22.Rh2 f4 23.Kh1 Qf2 24.Bc6 Bxh3 25.gxh3 Qf3+ 26.Rg2 Qxg2 checkmate

Stir It Up

In earlier posts we have seen Philidor1792 take some ideas from the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) and stir things up with Bxf2+ in other openings on several occasions. The connection between the Jerome and the Evans Gambit has been made - but in the following game we see Black using Jerome ideas for the defense...

guest443 - Philidor1792
blitz 3 0, www.bereg.ru, 2016

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.b4 Bb6

The Evans Gambit Declined.

5.a4 f5 

6.a5

There is only one good response to Black's pawn strike, and it is the solid 6.d3 but White is not thinking about "solid". 

6...Bxf2+

Stockfish 7's first choice, and the only move that leads to Black's advantage. This has to come as a shock to White - and in a 3-minute game!

7.Kxf2 fxe4 8.Ne1

White's best choice was to borrow a defensive idea from Black in the Jerome Gambit - castling-by-hand - and try 8.Rf1 exf3 9.Kg1 fxg2 10.Bf7+ but the second player would still have the advantage. 

8...Qh4+

The "Jerome Queen"!

9.Kg1 e3 10.Qe2 Qd4 11.c3 exd2+ 12.cxd4 dxc1=Q 13.dxe5 Nxb4

14.Qh5+

Now it is White's Queen's turn, but nothing comes of it.

14...g6 15.Qe2 Nc2 16.Qxc2 Qxe1+ 17.Bf1 Qxe5 18.Ra4 Nf6 19.Nc3 Qc5+ 20.Qf2 Qxc3 White resigned

You Can Observe A Lot By Just Watching

The title of this post is from a quote by the American baseball player Yogi Berra, who packed a lot of insight into his verbal quips. Makes me wonder if he ever played the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+). Probably not. Too bad.

Playing through the following game, however, and paying attention to the notes, will teach you a lot about a particular line in the Jerome Gambit.

Wall, Bill - Guest3625961
PlayChess.com, 2015

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 h6

The Semi-Italian opening.

 4.Nc3 Nf6 5.O-O Bc5

The Semi-Italian Four Knights.

6. Bxf7+

The Semi-Italian Four Knights Jerome Gambit.

The Database has 125 examples, with White scoring 67%. However, Bill is 15-0, including this game.

6...Kxf7 7.Nxe5+

For a change, in this line and others, Bill has tried 7.Qe2, which led to some interesting play, too: 7...d6 8.d3 Rf8 (8...a6 9.h3 Ba7 10.Be3 Be6 11.a4 Rf8 12.a5 Kg8 13.Bxa7 Rxa7 14.Rfe1 b5 15.axb6 cxb6 16.Qd2 Ra8 17.d4 exd4 18.Nxd4 Nxd4 19.Qxd4 Qc7 20.Red1 Rfd8 21.Rd2 b5 22.f3 Bc4 23.b3 Bf7 24.Qe3 Re8 25.Qd4 Nh5 26.Nd5 Bxd5 27.Qxd5+ Qf7 28.Qxd6 Red8 29.Qxd8+ Rxd8 30.Rxd8+ Kh7 31.Rxa6 Qc7 32.Rd5 Nf4 33.Rd2 Qe7 34.c4 bxc4 35.bxc4 Qg5 36.Kh2 Nxh3 $2 37.Rd5 Qf4+ 38.Kxh3 Qc7 39.Ra4 Qc8+ 40.Kg3 Qc6 41.Ra7 Black resigned, Wall,B - Doris, PlayChess.com, 2012) 9.Be3 Bxe3 10.fxe3 Kg8 11.h3 Qe8 12.Nb5 Qd7 13.c4 a6 14.Nc3 Qe8 15.Nd5 Nxd5 16.cxd5 Ne7 17.Rae1 Qh5 18.Qc2 c6 19.dxc6 bxc6 20.Qb3+ Kh8 21.Nh2 Bd7 22.Qb7 Rad8 $2 23.Rxf8+ Rxf8 24.Qxd7 Rf7 25.Qxd6 Qg5 26.Ng4 h5 27.Nxe5 Rf6 28.Qxe7 Rf1+ 29.Rxf1 Qxe7 30.Ng6+ Black resigned, Wall,B - Suave, PlayChess.com, 2013.

There is also the calm 7.d3:  7...Re8 8.Be3 Nd4 9.Na4 Nxf3+ 10.Qxf3 Be7 11.c4 Kg8 12.Nc3 c6 13.Qf5 Bb4 14.Qg6 d5 15.Bxh6 Qc7 16.f4 Bxc3 17.bxc3 dxc4 18.fxe5 Rxe5 19.Rxf6 Re7 20.Raf1 Bd7 21.Rf7 Black resigned, Wall,B - Guest907068, PlayChess.com 2012. 

7...Nxe5 8.d4 Bxd4

The text is probably best, but Bill has faced alternatives which are worth playing out:

8...Re8 9.dxc5 Kg8 $6 10.f4 Nc4 11.e5 Nh7 12.Qd5+ Kh8 13.Qxc4 b6 14.Nd5 bxc5 15.Qxc5 c6 16.Nb4 a5 17.Nd3 Nf8 18.f5 Ba6 19.c4 Rb8 20.b3 d5 21.exd6 Nd7 22.Qxc6 Bb7 23.Qc7 Qf6 24.Qxd7 Qxa1 25.Bb2 Qxf1+ 26.Kxf1 Rg8 27.Qe6 Rbe8 28.Qxh6 checkmate, Wall,B - Santiago,D, FICS, 2010); 

8...Bd6 9.dxe5 (9.f4 Rf8 10.fxe5 Kg8 11.exf6 Rxf6 12.Rxf6 Qxf6 13.e5 Qg6 14.exd6 Black resigned, Wall,B - Dato, Chess.com, 2010) 9...Bxe5 10.Nd5 Nxd5 (10...h5 11.f4 Bd4+ 12.Qxd4 c5 13.Qxc5 d6 14.Qb5 Nxe4 15.Qc4 Nf6 16.Nxf6+ Kxf6 17.Be3 d5 18.Bd4+ Kf7 19.Qd3 Re8 20.Qh7 Rg8 21.Qxh5+ Kf8 22.Bc5+ Black resigned, Wall,B - Mol,E, Chess.com, 2010; or 10...c6 11.f4 Bb8 12.Nxf6 Qxf6 13.e5 Qe6 14.Be3 d5 15.Qh5+ g6 16.Qh4 Bc7 17.Rae1 Bd8 18.Qg3 Qg4 19.e6+ Bxe6 20.f5 Bxf5 21.Qxg4 Black resigned, Wall,B - Maas,D, Chess.com, 2011) 11.Qxd5+ Kf6 $2 12.f4 Kg6 13.fxe5 Kh7 14.Rf7 Qh4 15.Be3 Re8 16.e6 dxe6 17.Qe5 Rg8 18.Bd4 Qg4 19.Rxc7 b6 20.Rf1 Ba6 21.Rff7 Qd1+ 22.Kf2 Qd2+ 23.Kf3 Be2+ 24.Kg3 Qg5+ 25.Kf2 Qxe5 26.Bxe5 Black resigned, Wall,B - Guest215111, PlayChess.com, 2012);

8...Qe7 9.dxc5 Qxc5 10.Be3 Qc6 11.Bd4 Nc4 12.e5 Nd5 13.Qf3+ Kg8 $2 14.Nxd5 Nd2 15.Ne7+ Kh7 16.Qf5+ Black resigned, Wall,B - Rami, FICS. 2012;

8...d6 9.dxc5 dxc5 10.Qe2 Re8 (10...b6 11.Bf4 Ng6 12.Bg3 a5 13.Rfd1 Qe7 14.e5 Ng4 15.Qf3+ Kg8 16.Qxa8 Kh7 17.f4 Bf5 18.Qf3 c6 19.h3 N6xe5 20.fxe5 Nxe5 21.Qxf5+ Black resigned, Wall,B - Gual,T, Chess.com, 2010; or 10...Bg4 11.f3 Bh5 12.g4 Bg6 13.f4 Nc6 14.e5 Nd5 15.Qc4 Re8 16.Nxd5 b5 17.Qxc5 Nxe5 18.fxe5+ Kg8 19.Bxh6 Rxe5 20.Rad1 Bf7 21.Qc3 Qd6 22.Nf6+ Black resigned, Wall,B - Snoopy, Chess.com 2010) 11.f4 Neg4 12.Rd1 Bd7 13.h3 Nf2 14.Kxf2 Nh5 15.Qxh5+ Kg8 16.Qd5+ Kh8 17.Qxd7 Qh4+ 18.g3 Qh5 19.Be3 Black resigned, Wall,B - Defensive, Chess.com, 2010;

and 8...Ng6 9.dxc5 Re8 10.Qd4 Qe7 11.f3 Kg8 12.Nb5 c6 13.Nc7 Rb8 14.Nxe8 Qxe8 15.Qd6 Ra8 16.Bxh6 gxh6 17.Qxf6 d5 18.exd5 cxd5 19.Rad1 Nf4 20.Qxf4 Black resigned, Wall,B - Jazza, Chess.com, 2010. 

9.Qxd4 d6 10.f4 Nc6 11.Qd3

11...Be6

Avoiding an "Optical Illusion" variation with 11...Nb4?.

There was also: 11...Re8 12.b4 Be6 13.a3 Nd7 14.f5 Kg8 15.fxe6 Rxe6 16.Qc4 Qe7 17.Nd5 Qh4 18.Nxc7 Qxe4 19.Qxe6+ Qxe6 20.Nxe6 Re8 21.Nc7 Black resigned, Wall,B - Neelesh, PlayChess.com, 2014).

12.f5 Nb4

Ah, but the temptation is still there...

13.fxe6+ Ke7 14.Qc4 Nc6 15.Nd5+ Ke8 16.Qc3 Ne5

Huh?

17.Nxc7+ Ke7 18.Nxa8 Qxa8 19.Bf4 Rc8 20.Qg3 Nh5 21.Qh4+ g5 22.Qxh5 gxf4 23.Rxf4 Black resigned

Checkmate is inescapable.

Further Exploration of An Odd Line

The Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) has any number of unusual positions arising from White's attack and Black's defense/counterattack. The following game continues exploration of an odd one in particular, along with some very instructive tactical play. 

Wall, Bill - Guest3742987
PlayChess.com 2015

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.d4 Bb4+ 7.c3 

This is an interesting position. Check out "LPDO Revisited", "Gloom and Doom", "Here... No, there... No, Here... No, There..." and "Never Send A Pawn To Do A Job..." for some of the earlier looks at it.

Black's response with his Queen in this game is relatively rare. (Wildest is 7...Qh4!?)

7...Qe7 8.dxe5

Some other ideas:

8.Qh5+ g6 9.Qxe5 Qxe5 10.dxe5 Bc5 11.O-O d6 12.exd6 Bxd6 13.Be3 Nf6 14.f3 Re8 15.Nd2 Be6 16.a3 Nh5 17.Rad1 Nf4 18.g3 Nd3 19.Rb1 Bc5 20.Bxc5 Nxc5 21.Rfd1 Rad8 22.Kf2 Rd7 23.Ke2 Red8 24.f4 Bg4+ 25.Ke1 Bxd1 26.Rxd1 Nb3 27.Nxb3 Rxd1+ 28.Ke2 Rh1 29.Kf3 Rxh2 30.Nd4 c5 31.Nb5 a6 32.Nc7
Rd3+ 33.Kg4 h6, White forfeited on time, iranstone - Mucke, FICS, 2013; or

8.Qb3+ d5 9.cxb4 Nc6 10.O-O Nf6 11.exd5 Nxd4 12.Qc4 Nf5 13.Bg5 Nd6 14.Qb3 Bf5 15.Nc3 Rhf8 16.Rfe1 Qd7 17.a4 Kg6 18.h4 h6 19.Bxf6 Rxf6 20.Ne2 Raf8 21.Nf4+ Kh7 22.h5 Be4 23.Ng6 Rxf2 24.Nxf8+ Rxf8 25.Rf1 Qg4 26.Qh3 Rxf1+ 27.Rxf1 Qe2 28.Rf2 Qd1+ 29.Kh2 Qxd5 30.Qh4 Nf5 31.Qf4 Nd6 32.Rd2 Qxh5+ 33.Kg1 Bg6 34.b3 Qg5 35.Rd4 Qxf4 36.Rxf4 Bc2 37.Rf3 Ne4 38.Kh2 c5 39.bxc5 Nxc5 40.Rc3 Bxb3 41.Rxc5 Bxa4 42.Rc7 a5 43.Rxb7 Bb3 44.Ra7 a4 45.Ra5 Kg6 46.Kg3 Kf6 47.Kf2 g5 48.Ke3 h5 49.Kd4 Kg6 50.Kc3 h4 51.Kb4 Kh5 52.Kc3 Kg4 53.Kd2 h3 54.Ke1 hxg2 55.Kf2 Kh3 56.Rxg5 Kh2 57.Rxg2+, Black forfeited on time, Nusiance - scaccopazzoo, FICS, 2009 ; or

8.O-O Bxc3 9.bxc3 Nc6 10.Qb3+ Ke8 11.Bd2 d6 12.Na3 a6 13.e5 Qf7 14.c4 Nxd4 15.Qd3 Nc6 16.exd6 Bf5 17.Rfe1+ Kd7 18.dxc7+ Kxc7 19.Bf4+ Kc8 20.Qb3 Na5 21.Qb6 Nf6 22.Qxa5 Nh5 23.Bd6, Black forfeited on time, stretto - Conga, FICS, 2007.

8... Bc5 

8...Qxe5 9.Qf3+ Nf6 10.Nd2 d5 11.cxb4 dxe4 12.Nxe4
Qxe4+ 13.Qxe4 Nxe4 14.O-O Re8 15.Be3 Kg8 16.Rac1 c6 17.Rc4 b5 Black resigned, EvanJunior - seanwickham, FICS, 2008.

9. Qd5+ 

Alternately 9.Qf3+ Ke8 10.O-O Qxe5 11.Bf4 Qf6 12.e5 Qf5 13.Nd2 d6 14.exd6 Bxd6 15.Rfe1+ Kd7 16.Nc4 Qxf4 17.Qh3+ Kd8 18.g3 Qxc4 19.Qh5 Nf6 20.Qg5 Qf7 21.Rad1 h6 22.Qe3 Re8 23.Qd2 Rxe1+ 24.Rxe1 Bf5 25.b4 Kd7 26.c4 Qxc4 27.a3 Re8 28.Rc1 Qd5 29.Qc3 Bh3 30.f3 Re2 31.a4 Rg2+ 32.Kh1 Rf2 33.Qe3 Qxf3+ 34.Qxf3 Rxf3 White resigned, jfhumphrey - kenzie, FICS 2010. 

9...Ke8 10.O-O c6 11.Qd1 d6 

There was nothing wrong with 11...Qxe5. 

12.b4 Bb6 13.exd6 Qe5 14.Bb2 Nf6 15.Nd2 Be6 16.Nf3 Qf4 

If 16...Qxe4 then 17.Re1, as Bill points out; yet the central "Jerome pawns" are beginning to look like trouble. The game is about equal. 

17.Bc1 Qg4 18.Re1 Nxe4 19.Be3 Rf8 

Black probably should have gone in for the complications after 19...Nxc3 20.Qc2 Nd5 21.h3 Qf5 22.Qxf5 Bxf5 23.Bxb6+. 

20.Bxb6 axb6 

Now the tactics build around the Knight at e4.

21.Qd4 Rf4 22.h3 Qg6 23.Ne5 Qf5 24.Nd3 Rh4 25.Qxg7 

White grabs a pawn before returing to the pressure on e4.

25...Qf7 26. Qd4 Rd8 27. Rxe4 Rxe4 28.Qxe4 Rxd6

White is up a couple of pawns, but the tactical thrust-and-parry continues.

29.Re1 Kf8 30.Ne5 Qf5 31.Qe3 Bxa2 32.Qxb6 Rd2 33.Qe3 Rd6 34.Qc5 Qe6 35.Re3 Qh6 

36.Nd7+ Kg8 37.Qe5 Rd1+ 38.Kh2 Rxd7 39.Qe8+ Qf8 40.Qxd7 

The advantage has grown to the exchange and some pawns, and Bill is willing to simplify into a stone cold won pawn ending.

40...Bf7 41.Qxb7 Qd6+ 42.g3 Kf8 43.Rf3 Qe6 44.Qxf7+ Qxf7 45.Rxf7+ Kxf7 46.c4 Ke6 47.b5 Kd7 48.f4 Kd6 49.b6 c5 50.f5
Black resigned