early sharp gambits

Of cource the above mentioned msg refers to "Against the Sicilian: 1. e4 c5 2. d4 ed 3. c3 dc 4. Nxc3 (Smith-Morra Gambit)" quoted by our friend Dejection;

...and surely it was a clear win for the Black! Kindly please excuse me for these funny mistakes, I am working right now and I am constantly under pressure; I 'm a chess addicted patzer🙂

Originally posted by black beetle
...and surely it was a clear win for the Black! Kindly please excuse me for these funny mistakes, I am working right now and I am constantly under pressure; I 'm a chess addicted patzer🙂

please sir you do yourself an injustice, 'patzer', is such a derogatory term, we are all at different levels of progression, nothing is static, and when one is motivated by love, what stronger motivational force can there be? -

thought for today by the right honorable and reverend I M Jolly .😛

Just joking, although many times I play like a patzer when I blitz my games instead of taking my time -therefore I am unstable; and an unstable player many times is a fish, which I am! But the last months I work hard my tactics and engames and I hope that soon ll get better (stable!);
anyway, the Smith-Morra gets nowhere the White and I love to face it when I play with the Black;
best regards

Originally posted by black beetle
Smith-Morra is pitiful when the Black knows how to proceed; just check a game I had against an ideal Smith-Morra, which was a clear win for the White;
[Event "Casual Game"]
[Site "http://www.itsyourturn.com"]
[Date "2008.02.24"]
[Round "*"]
[White "Don"]
[Black "black beetle"]
[Result "0-1"]
[Ply "58"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. c3 dxc3 ...[text shortened]... 25. Qe2 Kg7 26. Rb1 Ra5 27. Kh2
Qd7 28. Rf1 Ra4 29. Qc2 b5 0-1

best regards

That's just the Classical Main Line.
It's not the toughest defence against the Morra by any means with d6 in particular a potential weakness and White also having chances on the QS.

Better than the theoretically outdated 10.h3?! which loses a tempo is 10.Be3
Then 10...0-0 is usual, followed by either 11.Rac1 or 11.b4!? both giving White excellent chances.
For instance, 11.Rac1 Bg4 12.h3 Bh5 13.g4 Bg6 14.Nh4
or
11.b4!? Nxb4!? 12.Nxe5 Qa5 13.Nf3 Bg4 14.Rac1 Nxe4 15.Bd4!

In your game, after 10.h3?! 0-0 11.Nd5? is also a mistake, 11.Be3 Be6 12.Rac1 (not 12.Bxe6?) with perhaps a slight advantage to White but nothing more.

The game quoted does show how accurate White has to be with the Morra in the first 12-15 moves, but little else I'm afraid.
Well played anyhow.
🙂

I agree that the White can do without 10.h3 but then the Black is free to choose between the castling and the pin with fine play; and surely the line 11.Be3 you mentioned is correct.
I don't ubderrate this gambit as Black because it's easy for the White to convert his sac material into initiative. However once the Black is devoted to the Sicilian is ready to fight hard against by far more ruthless lines (Keres attack, Fianchetto, Sozin etc.);

Originally posted by black beetle
I agree that the White can do without 10.h3 but then the Black is free to choose between the castling and the pin with fine play; and surely the line 11.Be3 you mentioned is correct.
I don't ubderrate this gambit as Black because it's easy for the White to convert his sac material into initiative. However once the Black is devoted to the Sicilian is ready to fight hard against by far more ruthless lines (Keres attack, Fianchetto, Sozin etc.);

The point is, after 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.c3 dxc3 5.Nxc3 Nc6
6.Bc4 e6 7.O-O Be7 8.Qe2 Nf6 9.Rd1 e5 10.Be3 White has a reasonable early advantage.
1-0 = 152
0-1 = 102
1/2 = 97
From 351 games on my database does seem to back that up.

People mistakenly think the Morra is just a bunch of cheap early tricks with little long-term compensation for White.
With accurate early play, White's chances are well worth a measly pawn. I'd rather chance my arm with the Morra than play your favourite line of the Sicilian, thankyou very much!

I also noticed that you keep on training with CT-ART 3.0, my friend; fantastic program, I use it for at least one hour per day. Still being at the practice mode (since March 2008 I had four times the excercises 1-602, with first elo rating 2073 and last 2188. Very well for only 4 months' study);

Originally posted by black beetle
I also noticed that you keep on training with CT-ART 3.0, my friend; fantastic program, I use it for at least one hour per day. Still being at the practice mode (since March 2008 I had four times the excercises 1-602, with first elo rating 2073 and last 2188. Very well for only 4 months' study);

The Elo ratings are very funny eh? 😀

I have to admit that I use Chess Tactics For Beginners (!) for quick puzzle solving & Ct-Art for calculation.
I used to spend about 30-60 minutes per day on it when a previous job allowed. Now it's more like an hour or 2 per week.

From's gambit is fun (I think that's the name). 1. f4 e5 2. fxe5 d6 3. exd6 Bxd6. I once lost against it as white while playing bullet. No, actually, I got humiliated. 4. Nf6 g5 5. h3?? Bg3#

"The Elo ratings are very funny eh?

A have to admit that I use Chess Tactics For Beginners (!) for quick puzzle solving & Ct-Art for calculation.
I used to spend about 30-60 minutes per day on it when a previous job allowed. Now it's more like an hour or 2 per week."

Blokh et al them CC Russians are in another dimension🙂

Originally posted by black beetle
I agree that the White can do without 10.h3 but then the Black is free to choose between the castling and the pin with fine play; and surely the line 11.Be3 you mentioned is correct.
I don't ubderrate this gambit as Black because it's easy for the White to convert his sac material into initiative. However once the Black is devoted to the Sicilian is ready to fight hard against by far more ruthless lines (Keres attack, Fianchetto, Sozin etc.);

I've just dug-out my old copy of Burgess' Winning With The Smith-Morra Gambit 1993 & here's his take on the line:

"Black's aim in the Classical Main Line is to avoid any early tactical accidents, and then slowly to neutralise White's lead in development by means of exchanges. If White insists, Black will happily part with the d6 pawn to achieve this aim.
White immediately faces a very important decision; whether to prevent ...Bg4 with 10.h3, or to ignore this possibility, with 10.Be3. In the first case, Black will generally continue with 10...0-0 11.Be3 Be6, whereupon White will bombard Black's queenside, aiming to regain the pawn while retaining a positional advantage. However, most of these lines turn out to be rather drawish..."
"...The ambitious move for White is 10.Be3..."
"...If Black pins immediately (10...Bg4) White's chances appear rather good. However, Black can throw a spanner in the works by means of 10...0-0. Then 11.h3 Be6 arrives back at the solid main line, while 11.Rac1 Bg4 is not so effective for White, since after 12.h3 Bh5 13.g4 Bg6 14.Bc5 Rc8!, the inclusion of a pair of rook moves helps Black - it seems that White then has nothing particularly convincing.
Thus the spotlight falls on the line 10.Be3 0-0 11.b4!?, starting queenside operations while delaying any decision concerning the queen's rook. Surprisingly often it ends up on the g-file!
There is still much to be discussed in these lines, but on the available evidence, White is for preference."
"...10.Be3
This is White's most ambitious approach to the Classical Main Line.
White refuses to spend a tempo on the move h3, claiming that the pin with ...Bg4 is not, in fact to be feared. In response to the move ...Bg4, White will kick the bishop (not necessarily immediately) with h3, whereupon the exchange on f3 very often leaves Black facing a bad bishop versus good knight ending, where, despite the extra pawn, Black will have a very difficult time.
If the bishop drops back to h5, it can often be shut out of play by a subsequent g4, which may also constitute the first stage of a kingside attack."

Accurate to the hilt; another great annotator, Marovic (I have Marovic with me even at work!), has exactly the same opinion.

...and therefore the Black will prefer to castle. Maybe we agree that this gambit is not one of the greatest weapons of the White against a well prepared White!

And just a note: 11. b4 is fine after 11. ...Nxb4 12.Nxe5, but everything is cool for the Black after 11. ...Be6 12.Bxe6 fxe6 13.Qc4 Qd7.