It can be a lot of fun showing off my Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) games – even the losses – or, as in the case below, my Jerome-ized games, but it's a little embarassing to find in the middle of a "good" win a really bad move...
perrypawnpusher - Cibola
blitz FICS, 2009
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 h6
The Semi-Italian Game, not necessarily safer than 3...Bc5.
4.0-0 Bc5 5.Bxf7+ 
5...Kxf7 6.Nxe5+ Nxe5 7.Qh5+ Ng6
8.Qd5+ Ke8
Or 8... Kf8 as in perrypawnpusher - pascalwilliams, blitz 3 0, FICS, 2007 (1/2-1/2, 32) and abhailey - cumelin, net-chess.com, 2008 (1-0, 21).
9.Qxc5 Qe7 10.Qe3 Nf6 11.Nc3 c6 12.f4 b6
Up to here we have a pretty normal Jerome Gambit-style scenario: White hopes he can use his two extra pawns to create mischief before Black can get his extra piece to settle things.
13.f5
Fritz 8's suggestion is interesting, suggesting play across the whole board, and a balanced game after: 13.Qg3 Nf8 14.e5 Nh5 15.Qf3 g6 16.d4 Ba6 17.Rd1 Ng7 18.Ne4 Kd8 19.d5 Kc8 20.a4
13...Ne5 14.d4 Ba6
If you can counter a tactical threat with a stronger one of your own, that is a good thing: so Black threatens my Rook while I "merely" threaten his Knight – well, not exactly, but that was what my opponent was thinking. Instead, the Knight should retreat to f7.
15.dxe5 Qxe5
If 15...Bxf1 then 16.exf6 Qxf6 17.Kxf1. Now I have my piece back, and am up a pawn.
16.Re1 Kf7 17.Qf3 Rhe8 18.Bf4 Qc5+ 19.Be3 Qb5
Clearly a case, Jerome Gambit Gemeinde member Pete Banks ("blackburne") would say, of serious shock and awe.
20.Bd4
Clearly a case of "short attention span chess". When I looked closer at the board after my move (most experts recommend looking at the board before you move) I was appalled at my oversight. Oooops...
20...Qxb2
Well, I suppose it would be too much to expect him to let me have a second chance to capture his Queen... I do have a lot of pawns and pieces pointed at his King, however.
21.e5 Nd5
This falls in with White's plans. Better was 21...Qb4, attacking the Bishop on d4. White's attack can then proceed, but slower: 22.Rad1 Kg8 23.Qg3 Nd5 24.Ne4 Qf8 25.Nd6 followed in a few moves with the pawn break f5-f6.
22.e6+
22...Kg8 23.Qg4 Nxc3
Ending the game, but 23...Re7 24.Nxd5 lead to only misery as well after 24...Qxd4+ 25.Qxd4
cxd5 26.Qxd5 Bb7 (what else??) 27.Qd6
24.Qxg7 checkmate
A new line in a defense to the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) doesn't cool things off, but, rather, puts the heat on Black's King...
perrypawnpusher - hotintheshade
blitz FICS, 2009
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ke6
7.Qf5+ Kd6 8.f4 Nh6
Haven't seen that move before.
9.Qxe5+ Kc6 10.Qd5+ Kb6
11.d4
If you can visualize (I couldn't at the time) 11.Nc3 followed by Na4+ and then the capture of the Black Bishop at c5, you can see that this isn't the strongest move for White. Rybka's suggested line of play, later, was much more complicated: 11.Qb3+ Kc6 12.a4 Qh4+ 13.g3 Qh5 14.Qb5+ Kd6 15.b4 Re8 16.Nc3 c6 17.Qxc5+ Qxc5 18.bxc5+ Kxc5 with advantage to White.
11...Bxd4
This capture puts hotintheshade's King in serious danger, whereas after 11...Bb4+ 12.c3 Bf8 it is not clear that White has anything more than checking his way repeatedly to a draw.
12.Qxd4+ c5
A multi-purpose move designed to block the check and give Black an escape square at c7. Unfortunatly, it also opens the possibility of a checkmate in 4 moves.
Against the better 12...Ka6, Rybka suggests 13.Qa4+ Kb6 14.Qb4+ Kc6 15.Qc3+ Kb6 16.Be3+ c5 17.Bxc5+ Ka6 18.Qd3+ b5 19.a4 Kb7 20.Qd5+ Kb8 21.Bd6+ Qc7 22.Bxc7+ Kxc7 23.Qxa8. Whew!
13.Qxg7
Readers will no doubt have seen the better: 14.Bd2+ Ka4 ( 14...Kb5 15.a4+ Kc4 16.Na3 checkmate) 15.b3+ Kb5 16.Na3 checkmate
13...Qf8 14.Qxf8 Rxf8 15.0-0 d6 16.Nc3 Bd7
White has a simple two-pawn advantage.
17.Nd5+ Kc6 18.Bd2 Rae8 19.Rae1 Be6 20.f5
Sloppy, as the pawn could simply be taken; but my opponent is taken in by my oversight.
20...Bxd5 21.exd5+ Kxd5 22.Bxh6 Rxe1 23.Rxe1 Rxf5
The rest of the game just plays itself out.
24.Re7 Kc6 25.Rxh7 Re5 26.Rf7 Re2 27.Rf2 Re6 28.Bf4 d5 29.h4 c4 30.Kf1 Kd7 31.Re2 Rf6 32.g3 d4 33.Re4 d3 34.cxd3 cxd3 35.Rd4+ Ke7 36.Rxd3 Kf7 37.Rd7+ Kg6 38.Rd6 Rxd6 39.Bxd6 Kh5 40.Kf2 Kg4 41.Bf4 a6
42.Ke3 Kf5 43.h5 Kf6 44.h6 Kg6 45.Kd4 b5 46.Kc5 Black resigns
After a slug-fest with the Black pieces in my second game with JoeJox – for our first game, see "Dropping A Half-Point (Part 1)" – I was very glad to get the White pieces back for game three, and, of course, the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) was still on my mind...
perrypawnpusher - joejox
blitz 5 10, FICS, 2009
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5
Staying away from the Semi-Italian Game with 3...h6, because of the mess it got him into last time. I found that to be a bit ironic.
4.Bxf7+
The Jerome Gambit proper (if such a thing may be said).
4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ng6
A solid defense.
7.Qd5+ Ke8 8.Qxc5 d6 9.Qe3 Nf6
Black is better.
10.0-0 Kf7
Preparing to castle-by-hand. Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to challenge Joejox twice with the Jerome.11.Nc3 c6 12.f4 Rf8 
13.f5
White has to use his center pawns to make mischief.
13...Ne5 14.d4 Nc4 15.Qd3 Nb6 16.Bg5 Kg8
An interesting position. Black has "castled," but play against his wayward Knight (Nc6-e5-g3-e5-b6) has given White extra tempos, and he is near equalizing – especially after the thematic 17.Rae1.
17.g4 Nbd7 18.Rae1
Black has a fairly good counter to this move now. Better was 18.Bf4 d5 19.e5 Ne8 20.Rae1 Qh4 and Black has an edge.18...Qb6
19.Na4
Instead, White should offer the b-pawn and g-pawn with an unclear position to follow: 19.Kg2 Qxb2 20.e5 dxe5 21.dxe5 Nxg4 since after 22.Qc4+ Kh8 23.Nd1 Qb5 24.Qxg4 Nxe5 he has play.
19...Qb4 20.b3 Nxg4 
The g-pawn was sitting just ready to be plucked; but the consistent move was not to be distracted and play 20...b5, allowing both Queensides to become untangled after 21.a3 Qa5 22.Nc3 Qb6. Black would still have the edge.
21.Bd2 Qa3
After 21...Qb5 White can re-activate his pawns with 22.Qg3 Ngf6 23.Qxd6 with about equal chances. The text allows a draw by repetition.
22.Bc3
Not this way, though! White should play 22.Bc1 and if 22...Qxa2 then 23.Bb2 when 23...b5 24.Ra1 Qxa1 25.Rxa1 bxa4 26.Ba3 gives him at least an equal game.
It looks like Joejox was ready to split the point, though.
22...b5
Too bad: 22...d5 gave Black chances, by playing sharp defense and by returning his piece for a couple of pawns – 23.Qd2 a5 24.Qg2 Ngf6 25.e5 Ne4 26.f6 Rf7 27.e6 Rxf6 28.exd7 Bxd7 29.Nb6 Rd8 30.Nxd7 Rxd7 31.Qf3 Nxc3 32.Qxc3 Rf7, with an extra pawn.
23.Bb2 Qb4 24.Bc3 Qa3 25.Bb2 Qb4 26.Bc3 Qa3 27.Bb2 Drawn
The other day at FICS I grabbed four games against a pleasant opponent who would certainly have played more with me if I didn't have to excuse myself to be elsewhere.
It wasn't the same as being in a club and actually sitting across-the-board for a game, but it was much more enjoyable than the "opponent disconnects" or "You &%$$#!" that I sometimes encounter when I accidentally achieve an advantage...
Here are a couple of my games with Joejox. Of course, they touch on the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+)
perrypawnpusher - joejox
blitz 5 10, FICS, 2009
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 h6
The cautious Semi-Italian Game. See "Semi-Italian Jerome Gambit", "Pulling A Rabbit Out of A Hat" and "Semi-Italian Jerome Gambit Encore".4.0-0 Bc5 5.Bxf7+ 
Jerome-izing the game. I think adding 0-0 to White's position in the Jerome is at least as helpful as adding ...h6 to Black's.5...Kxf7 6.Nxe5+ Nxe5 7.Qh5+ Ke6 
Probably best. I've played 5 previous games in this line, and Black answered 7...Kf6, 7...Ng6, 7...Ke6, and 7...g6 (twice).8.Qf5+ Kd6 9.d4
Now the proper response for Black is the straight-forward 9...Bxd4, with advantage.
My opponent apparently knows something about the Jerome Gambit and ...Qf6, however; and, as Josh Billings said, "The trouble with people is not that they don't know but that they know so much that ain't so."
9...Qf6 10.dxe5+ Qxe5 11.Bf4 Black resigns
As a post-script, I'd like to add that following the advice of the masters ("analyze your own games") helped me here: in an earlier game against Joyus I had played the rash and weaker 11.Rd1+.
Facing the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 Bxf7+) can be a bit of a shock: people don't really play this stuff, do they?
Relax: there are many refutations to the Jerome. Choose one. No need to invent something new. Really.
But it's surprising how many of my opponents use their creativity to come up with something really new and different!
perrypawnpusher - TJPOT
blitz 2 12, FICS, 2009
1.e4 Nc6 2.Nf3 e5 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+
4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ng6
7.Qd5+ Ke8 8.Qxc5 d6 9.Qe3 Qf6
Not the usual move (9...Nf6) but perhaps the word is getting around that ...Qf6 can be very useful in warding off the Jerome Gambit.10.0-0 Or: 10.d4 Nh6 11.h3 Qh4 12.0-0 Bd7 13.Nc3 Bc6 14.Bd2 Rf8 15.f4 b6 16.f5 Ne7 17.Rf4 Qh5 18.Raf1 Kd7 19.Qg3 Rg8 20.d5 Bb7 21.Rh4 Qf7 22.Rf3 a6 23.Ne2 Qf6 24.Bc3 Qf7 25.Nd4 c5 26.Ne6 b5 27.Bxg7 Nhxf5 28.exf5 Bxd5 29.Rd3 Nxf5 30.Nxc5+ Kc6 31.Qe1 Rxg7 32.Rg4 Rxg4 33.hxg4 Kxc5 34.Qc3+ Kb6 35.gxf5 Qxf5 36.Qd4+ Kc6 37.Rc3+ Kd7 38.Qg7+ Bf7 39.Rf3 Qc5+ 40.Kh1 Qh5+ 41.Kg1 Qc5+ 42.Rf2 Re8 43.Qxf7+ Re7 44.Qf5+ Kc7 45.Qxc5+ dxc5 46.Rd2 c4 47.c3 Kc6 48.Kf2 h5 49.Kg3 Re4 50.Kf3 Rg4 51.g3 a5 52.Rh2 Rg5 53.Rh4 Kc5 54.Kf4 Rd5 55.Rh2 b4 56.Re2 bxc3 57.bxc3 a4 58.Re5 Kd6 59.Re4 Kc5 60.Re5 Kd6 61.Re4 Kc5 62.a3 Rd3 63.Re5+ Kb6 64.Rxh5 Rxc3 65.Rh6+ Kc5 66.Rh5+ Kb6 67.Rh6+ Kc5 68.Rh5+ Kd4 69.g4 Rxa3 70.g5 c3 71.g6 c2 72.Rh1 Rb3 73.g7 Rb8 74.Kf5 Kd3 75.Kf6 Kd2 76.Rh2+ Kd1 77.Rh1+ Kd2 78.Rh2+ Kc1 79.Rh8 Rg8 80.Rxg8 Kb2 81.Rb8+ Ka3 82.Rc8 Kb2 83.g8Q a3 84.Qc4 a2 85.Qxc2+ Ka3 86.Rc3+ Kb4 87.Qb3+ Ka5 Black resigns guest2199 - guest401, Internet Chess Club, 2004 10...Bh3
Wow! This came as a total surprise and set me down for a long think. I have to admit, I still can't figure it out.11.Qxh3 Nf4 12.Qf3 Kd7 13.d3 Rf8 
While this may look ominous at first glance, it allows me to transition to a technical, 2-pawn-up endgame.14.Qxf4 Qxf4 15.Bxf4 Rxf4 16.Nc3 Nf6 17.Nd5 
Sloppy (17.Ne2 was better) but it does succeed in getting another piece off of the board (at the cost of a doubled pawn).17...Nxd5 18.exd5 h5 Hats off to my opponent, who does not want to treat the rest of the game as "a matter of technique" but attacks for all he's worth.19.c4 h4 20.Rae1 h3 21.Re4 
Resisting.21...Rf6 22.Rfe1 c6 Attacking my advanced center pawn and forcing me to exchange it; but opening the 7th rank to my Rook. Safer first was 22...Rf7.23.Re7+ Kc8 24.dxc6 bxc6 25.Rxg7 Rhf8 
Still fighting.26.Re2 R6f7 27.Rxf7 Rxf7 28.gxh3 Kd7 Things are looking dire for TJPOT, but he resolutely battles to get a passed pawn for himself.29.Re3 d5 30.cxd5 cxd5 31.Kg2 Kd6 32.d4 Kc6 33.h4 Rf4 34.h5 Rg4+ 35.Rg3 Rxd4 
This is a blitz game, otherwise known as "Anything Can Happen Day." I admire my opponent's will.36.h6 Rh4 37.Rh3 Rg4+ 38.Kf3 Rg8 39.h7 Rh8 40.Ke3 Kd6 41.Kd4 Ke6
42.b4 Kf5 43.Kxd5 Kg4 44.Rg3+ Kh5 45.Rg7 Kh6 46.Rxa7 Rxh7 47.Rxh7+ Kxh7 48.b5 Black resigns
It can be a lot of fun showing off my Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) games – even the losses – or, as in the case below, my Jerome-ized games, but it's a little embarassing to find in the middle of a "good" win a really bad move...
