Im marc essermans lecture on the smith morra gambit on thursday night, april 15th, was universally well received by about 20 in attendance. Chess openings learn how to play the top 60 openings. I found this site that convinced me that the smith morra gambit was the opening for me. Nxc3 and a pawn in the center, while black has an extra pawn and a. 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. Those who came to watch included im justin sarkar who is a good friend of essermans despite their sharp contests in the smith morra, fm steve stoyko, and yaacov norowitz. You move all your poker chips to the middle of the table when you think you have the best hand. I used to have a golden rule of not playing the smith morra gambit against anyone above a 1700 rating because they always knew the line in and out and knew how to maintain their pawn advantage. Drawing upon his own experience and analysis, lawrence trent put together a complete dvd on the smithmorra gambit, 1 e4 c5 2 d4 cxd4 3 c3. Accepted scheveningen formation r malidh dongre vs a mirzoev, 2000 b21 sicilian, 2. Do the course the morra gambit for black from from fm thomas wolskis mentor course the sicilian defense. When i encounter the sicilian as white, i often will play the smith morra gambit.
White gambits a center pawn for space and a lead in development. International master timothy taylor is an experienced tournament player who has enjoyed several notable successes, including winning the us open. Players 22002400 do not take it and it usually transposes to an alapin. Smith morra gambit from im john grefes mentor course a kaleidoscope of openings. The strength of smithmorra gambit chess stack exchange. White sacrifices a pawn early in the opening in exchange for a quick development and attack against the black king. In chess, the smithmorra gambit or simply morra gambit is an opening gambit against the sicilian defence distinguished by the moves. So fans of surprise lines and perhaps fans of the smithmorra are sure to find it attractive.
For explanation of theory tables see theory table and for notation see algebraic notation 1. Smith morra secrets best gambit opening against the. Trents presentation is systematic and clearly outlined and the morra is a great opening with which to teach younger players basics like the value of development, while developing their tactical skills. The following variation of the smith morra gambit is one of my favorite opening lines with white. Nf3 and decides by the reaction of black whether to enter the gambit theory table. This 7move trap may seem unlikely, but it has appeared times on the online database i use. But one mistake can be fatal and mistakes are easy to make in the maze that is the latvian gambit.
Is the smithmorra gambit a good idea for regular play. Also, unlike the center game, the trade of the cpawn for the dpawn also gives black added central control. And if you want to play the smith morra gambit theres no better book than winning with the smith morra gambit. Most of the chess openings have been named and analyzed for hundreds of years. This move is playable if white is careful on the next move. Winning with the smithmorra gambit batsford chess library. Not taking it as mentioned in the other comment a valid option, but if you know what youre doing and you avoid the tricks, its effectively a free pawn theres a reason its rare at high levels. I think the last books to offer general coverage of the smithmorra were graham burgesss winning with the smithmorra gambit 1994 and jozsef palkovis morra gambit 2000, both of which discuss multiple alternatives for white and black. Jul 27, 2019 a bust to the smithmorra gambit by elijah logozar. A58, a59 gm misa paps volga benko gambit artillery on the a and b files added on 04. The smith morra gambit against the sicilian defense 1 e4 c5 2 d4 cxd4 3 c3 dxc3 4 nxc3 is perhaps not common in grandmaster chess, but at club level it can be a very potent attacking weapon. Armed with im marc essermans book, i was initially persuaded that this gambit was sound or close to it. Kolenbetschipkov, khabarovsk 1987, and tesinskymagerramov, budapest. Smithmorra im mark ginsburg presents a personal chess history.
Chess publishing\b21 smithmorra gambit last updated 07. Mayhem in the morra offers a complete fighting repertoire for white against the sicilian with 1. Ken smith smith morra comparing poker and chess gambits. The morra gambit, more recently called the smithmorra gambit. I managed to utilize the morra with success both over the board and online. I like playing the smith morra as white against the sicilian. Its a really fun opening to play and relatively easy to learn so i hope you. The smith morra is named after two players, pierre morra from france 19001969 1, and kenneth ray smith of the united states 19301999 2. Marc esserman believes so and he has 2700rated scalps to back up his view. Drawing upon his own experience and analysis, lawrence trent put together a complete dvd on the smithmorra gambit, 1. Mayhem in the morra by marc esserman quality chess.
Im looking for a collection of games using the smith morra gambit. The smith morra gambit part i chess strategies, chess game. In chess, the smithmorra gambit or simply morra gambit is an opening gambit against the. The gambit is named after pierre morra 19001969 from france and ken smith 19301999 from dallas, texas. The smithmorra is named after two players, pierre morra from france 19001969 1, and kenneth ray smith of the united states 19301999 2. The following variation of the smithmorra gambit is one of my favorite opening lines with white. The latter has a bad reputation, as square c3 is free for the knight. The smithmorra gambit is a powerful weapon for attacking players to as white against the most common reply to 1. Access to a supportive community who wants to make your chess journey a success. Accepted scheveningen formation monokroussos vs igor ivanov, 1985 b21 sicilian, 2. He has also included many new ideas and analyzed them in depth.
Watch im mark ginsburgs video series best play against the smith morra part 1, part 2, part 3. Is it wise to use the smithmorra gambit as a standard reply against the. The smithmorra gambit against the sicilian defense 1 e4 c5 2 d4 cxd4 3 c3 dxc3 4 nxc3 is perhaps not common in grandmaster chess, but at club level it. Fm chow, who, in a perfect storybook ending, adopted the finegold defense himself. Alex lenderman, smith morra gambit, part 1 free, part 2, and part 3. Nxc3 and a pawn in the center, while black has an extra pawn and a central pawn majority. But thats probably the rating threshold where you should switch to a more mainline opening. Smithmorra gambit icc opening videos internet chess club. Encyclopaedia of chess openings classification code index pdf. If the video is called fight the morrasmith gambit, we should see the. Morra published a booklet and several articles about the smithmorra around 1950. Im marc essermans lecture on the smithmorra gambit on thursday night, april 15th, was universally well received by about 20 in attendance.
Hi everyone, in this video i am going to teach you the smith morra, my favourite gambit against the sicilian defense. 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. This is why those two books are so prized by collectors today. Watch more free videos from gm ivan salgados antisicilian repertoire series at. He was a noted practitioner of the morra gambit against the sicilian, viz 1. I like playing the smithmorra as white against the sicilian. We have analyzed many lines together in our training sessions and he has incorporated our findings in his analysis. The smith morra gambit or simply the morra gambit the morra gambit is a less popular opening among grandmasters, but a rather popular one between club players. White sacrifices a pawn to develop quickly and create attacking chances.
Challenges are always free to enter, and often have prizes available. Jun 08, 2016 back when this game was played the smithmorra gambit was all the rage thanks to ken smith. The modern morra gambit foreword hannes langrock has regularly played the morra gambit against the sicilian defense since 1999. In exchange for the gambit pawn, white has a piece developed after 4. The senior american master ken smith, who died last month february 1999, was an advocate of gambits. It is questionable if this slight edge justifies to sacrifice an important center pawn, the cpawn. The morra gambit is a popular weapon at club level, but can it be effective at gm level. For explanation of theory tables see theory table and for notation see algebraic notation. I recommend the smith morra gambit to anyone who plays 1. Edward is a freelance writer with 8 years experience writing for the spruce, and a first place winner of the world open. The gambit is named after two players, pierre morra from france 19001969 and ken smith 19301999 of the dallas chess club, who popularized it to. The smithmorra gambit system against the sicilian defence. Moreover, ken also recommended that players, as part of their development, should adopt, at.
In chess, the smith morra gambit or simply morra gambit is an opening gambit against the sicilian defence distinguished by the moves. Back when this game was played the smithmorra gambit was all the rage thanks to ken smith. Morra published a booklet and several articles on the gambit around 1950 and smith wrote nine books and fortynine articles about it. It is important if you want to be successful in chess to be familiar with some of the most popular openings and understand the theory behind the moves. For instance, white has a very free po sition and he.
Re1 bc5 black has a good game as whites f2square is sensitive. One file for free 2150 games and a big database of over 9600 games for only usd 5. The first few moves in the chess opening lays the foundation for every chess game. Winning with the smithmorra gambit batsford chess library graham burgess on. A complete repertoire against 1 e4 by jeremy silman pdf, epub ebook d0wnl0ad winning with the sicilian defense a complete repertoire against 1 e4, revised 2nd edition is a tome of 353 pages, which provides a system, or repertoire, of opening variations for playing the black side of the sicilian. The sicilian defense may be the single most common chess opening in modern play. May 16, 2017 watch more free videos from gm ivan salgados antisicilian repertoire series at. After an early bishop sacrifice, my knight raided the. Winner of countless tournaments and former top 10 player. Qxd4 really isnt a promising option, since the queen will be pushed around, while black makes developing moves like nc6.
The name appears to result from boris schipkov of novosibirsk in southwestern siberia the trap has occurred at least twice in tournament play. Games using this gambit tend to be decisive with a result either way, although at intermediate levels 14001700 the white player who knows his stuff should cause black plenty of problems, even if. As you play your gambit, you are projecting all the confidence in the world. Smith morra gambit bibliography when i first developed an opening repertoire in my teens, i got most of my information from the old chess digest pamphlets of ken smith and john hall. Those who came to watch included im justin sarkar who is a good friend of essermans despite their sharp contests in the smithmorra, fm steve stoyko, and yaacov norowitz. Trents presentation is systematic and clearly outlined, and he doesnt ignore challenging lines. Nf3 and decides by the reaction of black whether to enter the gambit. Contests, competitions, and challenges our challenges are one of our members favorite part of being a member of the chesspathways community. What surprises me thus far is that players below 1800ish will nearly always take the gambit. This is a response by white to the sicilian defence 1.
After a series of natural moves in the smithmorra gambit of the sicilian defence, white can lose a queen. I used to think that the smithmorra gambit was a dangerous attacking weapon. Why did you elect to take up the smithmorra gambit in the first place. Chess openings crowood chess library ebooks for free. I recommend the smithmorra gambit to anyone who plays 1. The smithmorra gambit is more of a positional lead in development initiative gambit then an all out attack gambit. Morra gambit by janos flesch and a great selection of related books, art and collectibles available now at.
Why play defense for 12 the game with no winning chances if white so. Dont worry about your openings just learn general attacking ideas in the sicilian. Smithmorra gambit successfully twice more in the 2000 us masters. Accepted paulsen formation m negele vs kamsky, 2007 b21 sicilian, 2. It is free to reprint, publish or distribute this document in its entirety in your ezine or.