First off, let me state that i have little to no respect for the smith morra gambit. A bust to the smith morra gambit by elijah logozar. In the early days, declining the gambit was actually quite popular. If you would like a try at a white e4 opening against the sicilian defense that is not for the faint of heart here is a gambit opening for you. Also, unlike the center game, the trade of the cpawn for the dpawn also gives black added central control. White has better chances for an advantage in the main lines after 2. Read books about the opening in general and specific openings.
Readers will find no direct suggestions as to what blacks best answer to the morra is. In chess, the morphy gambit is an opening gambit against the sicilian defense wich arises after the following moves. The database can be searched via many criteria, including chess players, chess opening, player ratings, game result, and the year the chess game was played. Web site at fluent, incorporated centerra resource park 10 cavendish court. It has been my main weapon against the sicilian defense and my sympathies are clearly on the white side, but during my detailed study of it, i had to correct many of my assess. The smith morra gambit is a popular, aggressive response to the sicilian. Nxc3 and a pawn in the center, while black has an extra pawn and a. In chess, the smithmorra gambit or simply morra gambit is an opening gambit against the. This paper focuses on the smith morra gambit against the highly popular sicilian defence arising after 1 e4 c5 2 d4 cxd4 3 c3. First of all, let me reassure the numerous fans of this opening. Analysis board opening explorer board editor import.
Mayhem in the morra by im marc esserman free chess. The smithmorra gambit system against the sicilian defence. Mayhem in the morra by marc esserman, opening chess book by. We have many other materials and lessons that will help you to learn or improve the skills of the game of chess. Burt hochberg for the linguistic and stylistic editing, and mark donlan for his, editing and layout work. The theoretical status of the morra is that black is fine. He was a noted practitioner of the morra gambit against the sicilian, viz 1. Jul 01, 2012 the morra gambit is a popular weapon at club level, but can it be effective at grandmaster level. It is questionable if this slight edge justifies to sacrifice an important center pawn, the cpawn. Fm chow, who, in a perfect storybook ending, adopted the finegold defense himself. Nf3 it looks like the smith morra gambit because the first two moves for both white and black are exactly the same. I used to think that the smithmorra gambit was a dangerous attacking weapon. Study, play and get the outcome analyzed for each opening.
Sicilian defence, smithmorra gambit, siberian trap wikipedia. The opening played was the sicilian defence, smith morra gambit accepted. Armed with im marc essermans book, i was initially persuaded that this gambit was sound or close to it. White sacrifices a pawn to develop quickly and create attacking chances. Evans gambit pdf evans gambit gambit chess gambit tennison gambit kurtherian gambit the seattle gambit morra gambit kings gambit prince gambit scotch gambit princes gambit pdf benko gambit princes gambit budapest gambit danish gambit queens gambit queens gambit declined queen gambit accepted smith morra gambit. This transposes to the two knights defence variation, 1. I love playing the sicilian but lose quite often to the sm gambit. In exchange for the gambit pawn, white has a piece developed after 4. Attack the sicilian defense aggressively with the morra gambit.
The modern morra gambit a dynamic weapon against the sicilian. Nxc3 against the sicilian defense is known as the morra gambit after the frenchman who advocated it several decades ago, or usually in the u. Ive yet to decide how i wish to play when im faced with the morra gambit. Nc3 here which is less sound than the kings gambit but can get some useful results against less tough opposition and the odd surprise against better players.
In these instances no harm is done to either player, but the moral is that as white and black youshould be prepared for unex pected transpositions. Jul 27, 2019 a bust to the smithmorra gambit by elijah logozar. Trents presentation is systematic and clearly outlined, and he doesnt ignore challenging lines. Sicilian players, what do you play against the morra gambit. Whether you prefer the highly ambitious open sicilian, the simple and sound alapin, the sacrificial smith morra gambit, or the slow buildup of the closed sicilian, learn it well, and you can stop fearing the dangerous sicilian defense. Save openings to your computer even the ones you continue to play and make your own opening repertoire.
Mayhem in the morra by marc esserman, opening chess book. This article needs additional citations for verification. I used to think that the smith morra gambit was a dangerous attacking weapon. Furthermore, traditional sicilian players may be taken by surprise and removed from their main line repertoire. In chess, the smithmorra gambit or simply morra gambit is an opening gambit against the sicilian defence distinguished by the moves. Analysis board opening explorer board editor import game advanced search.
As is typical with accepting a gambit, black in this case accepts a pawn plus in exchange for accentuating whites. Michael goeller, youthful smithmorras and the smith morra gambit s siren call 2009 some games with the smith morra from when i was a kid and a lengthy meditation on whether or not to play the gambit. Nxc3 and a pawn in the center, while black has an extra pawn and a central pawn majority. After a series of natural moves in the smith morra gambit of the sicilian defence, white can lose a queen. Sign up today to receive your free movebymove guide to chess thinking pdf. If you play e4 as white for any length of time you probably run into the sicilian defense quite often. The morra gambit is a popular weapon at club level, but can it be effective at grandmaster level. The senior american master ken smith, who died last month february 1999, was an advocate of gambits. Please wait for the games to be loaded from our database on mobile click on games to study more. As noted by german gm karsten mueller, the morra gambit is wellsuited for players striving for tactical and uncompromising play, as whites better development often leads to a dangerous initiative. A a00, openings, a01 larsens opening, a02 birds opening, a03 birds opening, 1. Worlds best chess miniatures crakanthorp vs maddox game was played in new zealand in 1933 what kind of food you should eat to win more games.
The budapest gambit is an ambitious and adventurous opening for black, who offers a pawn as early as the second move in return for active and rapid development. Accepted scheveningen formation r malidh dongre vs a mirzoev, 2000 b21 sicilian, 2. A dynamically equal game tends to result after either 5. Im marc esserman smithmorra gambit thematic simul at the. Drawing upon his own experience and analysis, lawrence trent put together a complete dvd on the smithmorra gambit, 1. Qxd4 really isnt a promising option, since the queen will be pushed around, while black makes developing moves like nc6. The smith morra gambit is such an exciting weapon against the sicilian defense, why dont grandmasters play it. Smith morra gambit wikipedia page general info about this opening 1. The morra gambit is a popular weapon at club level, but can it be effective at gm level.
Mayhem in the morra offers a complete fighting repertoire for white against the sicilian with 1. Send your counterefforts to us chess digital editor john hartmann on or before august 15th. As the smith morra began to encounter strong players, a variety of different responses developed. Urusov gambit declined chess gambits harking back to. Smith morra gambit successfully twice more in the 2000 us masters. Developments in the smith morra gambit 198089 by neil carr and a great selection of related books, art and collectibles available now at. Nf3 and decides by the reaction of black whether to enter the gambit. Sicilian defence, smithmorra gambit accepted standard. By sacrificing a pawn, white aims to rapidly develop his pieces with the objective of delivering a swift knockout blow to the unprepared black camp. Black often has a fair share of the tactical chances here, although white does get further gambit opportunities. Marc esserman believes so and he has 2700rated scalps to back up his view.
Combating 2 c3, the closed, the morra gambit and other tricky ideas. While it is indeed dangerous against an unprepared opponent, someone thats armed with the best lines for black can expect equality at the. I usually decline it by going into the nf6nc6 or nf6e6 branches of the alapin c3 sicilian. The smith morra gambit is a variation of the sicilian defence in which white sacrifices a pawn right in the opening to get a small long term positional advantage. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. For help with downloading a wikipedia page as a pdf, see help. While it is indeed dangerous against an unprepared opponent, someone thats armed with the best lines for black can expect equality at the worst, and in many cases. The morra smith although not very popular at grandmaster level, probably because it is thought to be unsound, is still arguably a highly effective weapon at club level chess. If youre fed up of playing against booked up sicilian players, gm larry christiansen has the perfect antidote. This gambit is only for very aggressive players as are most gambits. Matojelic sicilian defence smith morra gambit crakanthorp, spencer. These are arranged according to the encyclopedia of chess openings eco codes. Mayhem in the morra by im marc esserman free chess videos. Apr 09, 2011 worlds best chess miniatures crakanthorp vs maddox game was played in new zealand in 1933 what kind of food you should eat to win more games.
Chess openings smith morra gambit thechesswebsite intermediate. The smithmorra gambit smash the sicilian defense in style. Marc esserman is an im from the usa who has played and analysed the morra gambit for most of his life. After an early bishop sacrifice, my knight raided the black camp from its e6outpost, and i won in short order.
The name appears to result from boris schipkov of novosibirsk in southwestern siberia. Nf3 and decides by the reaction of black whether to enter the gambit theory table. The smith morra gambit is a sharp and aggressive line against the sicilian defense from black. After an early bishop sacrifice, my knight raided the. The morra gambit is especially trappy but black should be fine if he gets through the first few moves unscathed. Jun 15, 2009 first off, let me state that i have little to no respect for the smith morra gambit. I do this as well, and usually get a pretty nice position after.
In fact, in the one game where bobby fischer encountered the gambit, he preferred. It is arguably the most dangerous gambit against the sicilian defence, with the wings gambit b4 coming second. Search the chess games database, download games, view frequent practitioners and browse the opening explorer. The modern morra gambit introduction when i began writing this book, after having played the morra gambit for some years, i was of the opinion that i knew my opening. For explanation of theory tables see theory table and for notation see algebraic notation. The internets oldest and best chess database and community. Sicilian defence, smithmorra gambit, siberian trap. The chess tempo chess database provides over two million searchable chess games. In 2011, when preparing for the us championship, i decided to employ the morra gambit as a surprise weapon if given the chance. I have finally annotated the seven available games from im marc essermans 8board smith morra gambit thematic simultaneous exhibition at the kenilworth chess club, which followed his lecture about the opening on april 15, 2010. Shockingly, a lot of people have been complimenting my writing. I frequently hear the same question from many club players.
Encyclopaedia of chess openings classification code index pdf. Gambitfan, smith morra gambit all at a way to learn the smith morra is to play over a bunch of games online, and this link offers you a quick and easy. Chess openings main chess openings opening variances. The plan is to trade off the c8 bishop usually via bg4 after they play nf3, then trade bishop for knight, play e6, then put pressure on d4 via nc6, qb6, nh6f5 or ne7f5, and f6. When i encounter the sicilian as white, i often will play the smith morra gambit. Preferred openings by the top 20 chess players in history. Smith morra gambit double sacrifice patrick vasseur vs nerrant, 1981 b21 sicilian, 2. Esserman is the worlds leading expert on the morra gambit and he shares all his secrets and many novelties in a lively witty style. Marc adopted the morra gambit in his youth and soon weaponized the quaint, tame house pet into a snarling, vicious pitbull of an opening. The gambits are organized into sections by the parent chess opening, giving the gambit name, eco code, and.
Chess openings this is a wikipedia book, a collection of wikipedia articles that can be easily saved, imported by an external electronic rendering service, and ordered as a printed book. The kings gambit has the drawback of weakening the white kingside as well as sacrificing a pawn, but aims to compensate by securing a strong centre, as well as having two central pawns vs. A dynamic weapon against the sicilian, 2nd edition russell enterprises, 2011. Jan 29, 2015 last week, we examined the origins of the smith morra gambit. For explanation of theory tables see theory table and for notation see algebraic notation 1. Search the chess games database, download games, view frequent practitioners and browse the opening. I feel that there are three lines for black that stand out above all the others. For gambit technical support contact information, visit the fluent, inc. Open game kings gambit bishops opening vienna petrov latvian gambit scotch giuoco piano two knights ruy lopez philidor defence 1. Therefore, the morra gambit is not seen very often at the top level. While it is indeed dangerous against an unprepared opponent, someone thats armed with the best lines for black can expect equality at the worst, and in many cases an advantage. It has always been a particular favourite at club level, where it still provides a surprise weapon, but it has also been utilized with success by topclass grandmasters.
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