27 Aug '07 15:52>
Teenage IM Alex Lenderman plays the Smith-Morra as his primary line against the Sicilian.
Originally posted by Dragon FireTalking about greats of the past I would add Tartakower, Bronstein (who also did play Kings gambit - other "mikey mouse" opening according to z00troll) and Ivkov.
... the Morra Gambit was and is used as a surprise weapon by strong players such as Adams, Chandler, Minasian and Illescas and by greats of the past such as Bobby Fisher and Matulovic.
Originally posted by SquelchbelchAfter 1.e4 c5 2.d4 cxd4 3.c3 dxc3 4.Nxc3 Nc6 5.Nf3 d6 6.Bc4 a6! 7.Bg5!? black may play 7...Nf6 with e6 to follow. If 8.e5 then 8....dxe5! 9.Qxd8+ Kxd8 10.Bxf7 e6 11.0-0-0 Kc7 with slightly better position.
Ok z00t, I agree DF shouldn't really try to score points by airing PM's in public forums.
By way of interest, I give the line in the Morra which Silman & Gallagher suggest as a possible refutation to the gambit & one which any serious Morra gambiteer should know from both sides:
1.e4...c5
2.d4...cxd4
3.c3...dxc3
4.Nxc3...Nc6
5.Nf3...d6
6.B or certain lines of the Scotch after Kasparov decided to dust them off & win with them!
Originally posted by z00tIt should be assumed that we can all read and write in good English so the above statements still stand.
The article says "IM Ben Finegold was brought into the project to provide analytic support and positional evaluations. The authors also enlisted the help of other strong players, including FM Fred Lindsay, IM Jack Peters, and GM Dmitry Gurevich".
If that does not convince anyone the earlier statements are self-explanatory The fact that there is so y and practice on this line or given the lack of higher level contests with the gambit.
Originally posted by KorchI agree with z00t. I mean we can all agree that the first tempo as white is almost irrelevant in games, and that all games should, technically, be drawn, since having the first move is like drawing first in a card game, it's not decisive.
As you are have problems to read what I have wrote I`ll give you one more chance to read main questions:
[b]Did you search in databases to be sure that there are no
IMs and GMs who uses Smith-Morra gambit?
Does the fact that Smith-Morra is not so popular as other Sicilian lines means that it is unsound? Have you read discussion in [threadid]70577[/thre ...[text shortened]... ] where statements like that were refuted?
Can you show refutation of Smith-Morra gambit?[/b]
Originally posted by z00tThis shows you don't know the basics of the opening, nor the reputation for this line itself.
6..a6 deserves a question mark not a !
Originally posted by MoneyMaker7The only reason the Morra Gambit has some wins as white (I remind you the % is less than 50), is because of two reasons. One is that the white players that play the Morra Gambit (very very few at the high levels, and probably only occasially), do extensive preparation, and uncover some traps and memorize lines and dig up a few tricky novelties, that occasionally actually work against a Grandmaster, can you believe that? Another reason is that sometimes the white player is higher rated, and he just by chance is playing the Gambit against a lower rated opponent, and he wins. No surprises there.
I agree with z00t. I mean we can all agree that the first tempo as white is almost irrelevant in games, and that all games should, technically, be drawn, since having the first move is like drawing first in a card game, it's not decisive.
So then, in the Morra Gambit, you automatically sacrifice a pawn, a central pawn. For what, if not just another ex scores a surprising 68% for white. Maybe we should all be playing that.
Originally posted by wargamer66Check also other databases. www.chesslive.de, www.chesslab.com and www.chessgames.com for example.
I punched the first 4 moves into Chessbase 9 and checked what it had to say:
In the Elite database (best players): 0 games
In the Guru database: 564 games, and it looks like many of them are in junior events.
In the Opening database: 3 games.
Overall score: +164 =117 -213
There were some big names among the folks who played it, but not too m s a fine opening for players like us, but it's not represented highly among very good players.
Originally posted by wargamer66What line does GM Gallagher suggest against the Morra?
In Beating the Anti-Sicilians by Joe Gagllagher he says this about the Morra,
"White sacrifices a pawn in order to achieve a lead in development and possibly some pressure on the c-file. This line is much more popular (and dangerous) at club, rather than master, level where there is probably more respect for a central pawn."
I'll be sending you a bill, Zoot.
Originally posted by KorchBut I don't really want to. It's sort of a side-line opening that you guys are saying is played all the time, which I know is not true. I'll let you waste your time instead 🙂
Check also other databases. www.chesslive.de, www.chesslab.com and www.chessgames.com for example.