chess Chess is a board game for two players, called White and Black, each controlling an army of chess pieces in their color, with the objective to checkmate the opponent's king. It is sometimes called international chess or Western chess to disti ...

, the Smith–Morra Gambit (or simply Morra Gambit) is an

opening Opening may refer to: * Al-Fatiha, "The Opening", the first chapter of the Qur'an * The Opening (album), live album by Mal Waldron * Backgammon opening * Chess opening * A title sequence or opening credits * , a term from contract bridge * , ...

gambit A gambit (from Italian , the act of tripping someone with the leg to make them fall) is a chess opening in which a player sacrifices with the aim of achieving a subsequent advantage. The word ''gambit'' is also sometimes used to describe simi ...

against the

Sicilian Defence The Sicilian Defence is a chess opening that begins with the following moves: :1. b:Chess Opening Theory/1. e4, e4 b:Chess Opening Theory/1. e4/1...c5, c5 The Sicilian is the most popular and best-scoring response to White's first move 1.e4. Ope ...

distinguished by the moves: :1. e4 c5 :2. d4 cxd4 :3. c3 White sacrifices a

pawn Pawn most often refers to: * Pawn (chess), the weakest and most numerous piece in the game * Pawnbroker or pawnshop, a business that provides loans by taking personal property as collateral Pawn may also refer to: Places * Pawn, Oregon, an his ...

to quickly and create attacking chances. In exchange for the gambit pawn, White has a piece developed after 4.Nxc3 and a pawn in the , while Black has an extra pawn and a central pawn majority. The plan for White is straightforward and consists of placing his

bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

on c4 to attack the f7-square, and controlling both the c- and d- with

rooks Rook (''Corvus frugilegus'') is a bird of the corvid family. Rook or rooks may also refer to: Games *Rook (chess), a piece in chess *Rook (card game), a trick-taking card game Military *Sukhoi Su-25 or Rook, a close air support aircraft * USS ...

, taking advantage of the fact that Black can hardly find a suitable place to post his

queen Queen or QUEEN may refer to: Monarchy * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom ** List of queens regnant * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mother ...

. The Smith–Morra is uncommon in grandmaster games, but is popular at club level. It does not have a definitive refutation.

History

The Smith–Morra is named after (1900–1969) from France, and Ken Smith (1930–1999) of the

Dallas Chess Club The Dallas Chess Club (DCC) is one of the major chess organizations in the United States and a gold affiliate of the United States Chess Federation (US Chess, formerly USCF). The club has approximately 300 members, including a number of FIDE titled ...

.Kenneth Ray Smith (1930–1999)
Obituary at the US Chess Federation In Europe the name ''Morra Gambit'' is preferred; other names for it, including ''Tartakower Gambit'' and ''Matulovic Gambit'', have disappeared. Around 1950, Morra published a booklet and several articles about the Smith–Morra. 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 ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= U.S. state, State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , s ...

in 1972, he essayed the opening three times, against

Donald Byrne Donald Byrne (June 12, 1930 – April 8, 1976) was an American university professor and chess player. He held the title International Master, and competed for his country in the Chess Olympiad on several occasions. Biography Born in New York Cit ...

, Larry Evans, and

Henrique Mecking Henrique Costa Mecking (born 23 January 1952), also known as Mequinho, is a Brazilian chess grandmaster who reached his zenith in the 1970s and is still one of the strongest players in Brazil. He was a chess prodigy, drawing comparisons to Bobby ...

, but lost all three games. Many players consider the opening amateurish. International Master

Marc Esserman Marc Esserman (born July 28, 1983) is an American chess player who currently holds the FIDE title of International Master (IM). Scholastic career Esserman began playing chess at the age of 7. Scholastic competition resulted in two national team ...

is one of its leading advocates today. Recently in 2023, Hikaru Nakamura defeated World Champion Magnus Carlsen with it.

Continuations overview

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. 3.Qxd4 Nc6 4.Qe3 is the Sicilian Center Game, similar to the

Center Game The Center Game is a chess opening that begins with the moves: :1. e4 e5 :2. d4 exd4 The game usually continues 3.Qxd4 Nc6, with a gain of tempo for Black due to the attack on the white queen. (Note that 3.c3 is considered a separate open ...

, 1.e4 e5 2.d4 exd4 3.Qxd4 Nc6 4.Qe3.

Morra Gambit Accepted: 3...dxc3

4.Nxc3

* 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 Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a part of ...

" 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 *Finegold Defence 4..d6 5. Nf3 e6 6. Bc4 Nf6 7. 0-0 Be7 8. Qe2 a6

4.Bc4

This line is similar to the

Danish Gambit The Danish Gambit, known as the ' in German and the ' in Dutch (both meaning Nordic Gambit), is a chess opening that begins with the moves: :1. e4 e5 :2. d4 exd4 :3. c3 White will sacrifice one or two pawns for the sake of rapid and the at ...

: 4...cxb2 5.Bxb2

Morra Gambit Declined

* 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.

Notes

References

External links

The Smith–Morra gambit
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sicilian Defence, Smith-Morra Gambit Chess openings 1950 in chess