Sicilian Defence, SmithMorra Gambit

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SmithMorra Gambit
a

Moves

ECO

Named after

1.e4 c5 2.d4 cxd4 3.c3

B20

Ken Smith
Pierre Morra

Parent

Synonym(s)

Sicilian Defence

Morra Gambit

In chess, the SmithMorra Gambit (or simply Morra Gambit) is an opening gambit against
the Sicilian Defencedistinguished by the moves:
1. e4 c5
2. d4 cxd4
3. c3
White sacrifices a pawn to develop quickly and create attacking chances. In
exchange for the gambit pawn, White has a piece developed after 4.Nxc3 and
a pawn in the center, while Black has an extra pawn and a central pawn majority.
The plan for White is straightforward and consists of placing the bishop on c4 to
attack the f7-square, and controlling both the c- and d-files with rooks, taking
advantage of the fact that Black can hardly find a suitable place to post theirqueen.
The SmithMorra is uncommon in grandmaster games, but is popular at club level.
[1]

Contents
[hide]

1 History

2 Continuations overview

3 Morra Gambit Accepted: 3...dxc3

o 3.1 4.Nxc3
o 3.2 4.Bc4

4 Morra Gambit Declined

5 See also

6 References

7 Further reading

8 External links

This article usesalgebraic

notation to describe chess
moves.

History[edit]
The SmithMorra is named after Pierre Morra (19001969) from France,
[2]
and Ken Smith (19301999) of the Dallas Chess Club.[3] Hence in Europe the
name Morra Gambit is preferred; names like Tartakower Gambit and Matulovic
Gambit have disappeared.
Morra published a booklet and several articles about the SmithMorra around
1950. Smith wrote a total of nine books and forty-nine articles about the gambit.
When Smith participated in an international tournament against several top
grandmasters in San Antonio in 1972, he essayed the opening three times,
againstDonald Byrne, Larry Evans, and Henrique Mecking, but lost all three
games.

Continuations overview[edit]
Black has a wide choice of reasonable defences after 1.e4 c5 2.d4 cxd4 3.c3.
White sometimes plays 2.Nf3 and 3.c3, which depending on Black's response may
rule out certain lines.

Morra Gambit Accepted: 3...dxc3 [edit]

4.Nxc3[edit]

Classical Main line: 4...Nc6 5.Nf3 d6 6.Bc4 e6 7.0-0 Nf6 8.Qe2 Be7 9.Rd1 e5
10.h3 or 10.Be3

Scheveningen setup: 4...Nc6 5.Nf3 d6 6.Bc4 e6 7.0-0 Nf6 (or Be7) 8.Qe2 a6
9.Rd1 Qc7 (probably inferior Qa5) 10.Bf4 (10.Bg5) Be7

Siberian Variation: 4...Nc6 5.Nf3 e6 6.Bc4 Nf6 and 7...Qc7, with the idea being
after 7.0-0 Qc7 8.Qe2 Ng4!, 9.h3?? loses to the famous "Siberian Trap"
9...Nd4!, winning the queen. If instead White plays 9.Rd1, preventing 9...Nd4,
black can continue with 9...Bc5 with a clearly better game.

Nge7 variations: 4...Nc6 (or 4...e6) 5.Nf3 e6 6.Bc4 a6 (Nge7) 7.0-0 Nge7 (d6
8.Qe2 Nge7 9.Bg5 h6) 8.Bg5 f6 9.Be3

6...a6 Defence: 4...Nc6 5.Nf3 d6 6.Bc4 a6 eventually 7...Bg4

Fianchetto: 4...g6 (4...Nc6 5.Nf3 g6 allows 6.h4!?) 5.Nf3 Bg7 6.Bc4 Nc6

Chicago Defence: 4...e6 5.Bc4 a6 6.Nf3 b5 7.Bb3 d6 8.0-0 and Black

plays ...Ra7 at some stage

Early queenside fianchetto: 4...e6 5.Bc4 a6 6.Nf3 b5 7.Bb3 Bb7

4.Bc4[edit]

This line is similar to the Danish Gambit: 4...cxb2 5.Bxb2

Morra Gambit Declined[edit]

Advance Variation: 3...d3

First transposition to the Alapin: 3...Nf6 4.e5 Nd5

Second transposition to the Alapin: 3...d5 4.exd5 Qxd5 (Nf6) 5.cxd4

The latter has a bad reputation, as square c3 is free for the knight. Still 5...Nf6
(5...e5; 5...Nc6 6.Nf3 e5) 6.Nf3 e6 7.Nc3 Qd6 is likely to transpose to a main line
of the Alapin: 2.c3 d5 3.exd5 Qxd5 4.d4 e6 5.Nf3 Nf6 6.Bd3 Nc6 7.0-0 cxd4 8.cxd4
Be7 9.Nc3 Qd6.

See also[edit]

Another anti-Sicilian gambit is the Wing Gambit (1.e4 c5 2.b4).

List of chess openings

List of chess openings named after people

References[edit]
1.

Jump up^ http://chess.about.com/od/openings/ss/Sicilian_2.htm

2.

Jump up^ Chess Notes by Edward Winter, see entry 3953 ("Morra")

3.

Jump up^ Kenneth Ray Smith (19301999) Obituary at the US Chess Federation

Further reading[edit]

Flesch, Jnos (1981). The Morra (Smith) Gambit. Batsford. ISBN 0-7134-2188-6.

Burgess, Graham (1994). Winning with the Smith-Morra

Gambit. Batsford. ISBN 0805035745.

Plkvi, Jszef (2000). Morra Gambit. Caissa Chess Books.

Langrock, Hannes (2006). The Modern Morra Gambit. Russell Enterprises. ISBN 1888690-32-1.