<Misadventures Against the “Smith-Morra” Gambit>

Jessica (1878) v. NN (1818)
Yahoo (2 hours each time control)

1. e4 c5
2. d4 cxd4
3. c3 dxc3
4. Bc4

<OK welcome to the “Smith Morra gambit”… I never even heard of it, but I figure if he’s going to go 4.Bc4 I’ve already taken the bait and my only move really is 4…cxb2 . I was happy here to tell you the truth cuz I thought this was NOT THEORY (it is, in fact) and I’m very happy to have two pawns thanks very much>

4….cxb2
5. Bxb2 Nc6
6. Nf3 e6

<well he’s got them bishops lined up like laser beams and massive control of the FOUR CENTER SQUARES so even I can see the pressure on my g7 pawn, and that it's going to be VERY TRICKY to get castled from here--it is, however, quite "doable." DAG NABBIT just tricky. Black must be VERY precise>

7. o-o d6
8. Qe2 Nge7

<My plan is to play f6, Ng6, Be7, o-o. IT ALL SEEMED SO BEAUTIFUL IN MY HEAD>

9. Rd1 Qc7?

<This is where I started seeing phantoms. All I had to do was play 9…Ng6 and BLACK IS PERFECTLY FINE, AHEAD IN FACT according to my “Shredder.” Though my Shreddy likes pawns, so who knows really. I took a long time here and I was “afraid” of my pinned d-pawn and wanted to undo the pin before proceeding. This said, I don’t think Qc7 is itself a blunder, it’s just not as good as Ng6>

10. Nc3 f6????

<Losing, of course, on the spot. Sigh. I simply overlooked the danger to my d6 square due to my Queen being on the c7 square—no excuse, same as hanging a damn piece. After 10.Nc3, of course, the prophylactic 10….a6 has to be played before I continue any developing plans. My brilliant 10…f6 allows his Knight to crash in 11.Nb5! and he gets a tempo on my Queen which has to move and because it has to move I cannot defend my d-pawn and after my Queen moves (don't matter where even) He goes Nxd6+ --- and no matter what I do he gets a PINWHEEL and I lose pieces wholesale, Black is TOTALLY BUSTED.>

11. Nb5 RESIGN <for obvious reasons>

OK here’s how it COULD have gone if I had seen the necessary prophylactic:

10…a6

Which gives us:

click for larger view

<OK and Black is perfectly fine, but has to be SUPER CAREFUL. White has no immediate dire threat to Black—In fact I think with careful play Black should be winning here with evenly matched opponents. But say White now plays 11.Qe3 here. Black has to be very careful— For example 11…f6 (which I had been planning so I could move my DSB and castle) is a BIG MISTAKE in this partiular position because it allows 12. Na4 with the threat 13. Nb6.

After 11.Qe3, Black must play 11…Ng6, if for nothing else so the DSB can cover the black d-pawn. This makes all the difference in the world!!

That is, once 11…Ng6 is played, if White tries the tricky 12.Na4, then Black can go 12…b5 13.Nb6 Rb8 14.Nxc8 and NOW White can take 14…bxc4!!

Note that if the Black DSB was not covering the black d-pawn here, White would have 15.Nxd6+! with a won game. JUST TO SHOW YOU HOW CAREFULLY ONE MUST PLAY IF YOU GRAB GAMBIT PAWNS and the guy gets open lines and diagonals and big lead in development. I believe the position from the FEN is certainly better for Black. “Shreddy” gives it plus 7.0 or so for Black…>

Oh well live and learn….

I think 4...Nc6 is passive although it can't be bad. 4...Nf6 seems better and is more your style. For example, 4...Nf6 5. e5 Ne4 6. Nf3 Qa5+ (wheeee) 7. Nbd2 d5 (heh) 8. exd6 Nxd6 10. 0-0 Nc6

click for larger view

Looks like fun for Morphettes of all ages.

6...e6, like 4...Nc6, is OK but not your style. More fun is 6...Qb6 7. Qe2 Nf6 8. e5 d5 (arooo) 9. exf6 dxc4 10. fxg7 Bxg7 (wow) 11. Bxg7 Rg8 12. Bc3 Bf5 13. Qxc4 (...Bd3 is too gruesome) Bxb1 14. 0-0 Bf5

click for larger view

Development is almost equal and you're up a pawn. The king in the center is scary but you can't have everything.

7...d6 I would prefer Nf6 to try to get d5 with tempo.

8...Nge7 I think this is too slow but not fatal. Nf6 is probably better.

9...Qc7 Shredded Wheat is right and the ? is probably deserved.

My advice is "to thine own self be true." Play your style which is open and tactical, not Steinitzy stodgy defensive.

About the game itself - I agree with Tim that simply Nf6 would have been the best idea in several opportunities. This whole scheme beginning with f6 looks very suspicious - too time-consuming in this type of position. Even if you did play the correct 10...a6, White already has Nd5 ideas in several lines where things are starting to get quite unpleasant for Black.

Regarding the blunder - I think it's a good example of how "gambit psychology" works sometimes: you put your opponent under pressure and so get him off balance. It seems that you were sort of "hypnotized" by the dangers emanating from the mighty bishops and were so occupied with solving them, that you didn't pay attention to a threat coming from a different direction - that of Nb5 - which you would probably notice under "normal" circumstances.

'I've tended to like figures who were rebellious and extremely competent and sometimes rather arrogant. At the time that Bobby Fischer was having a prominent chess match with Boris Spassky, I was one of the people who rather liked Fischer's impossible attitude toward the rest of the world and his ability to get away with it (up to a point) because he was so good at what he did, so gifted.'

Robert Pinsky

'If you say to Bobby Fischer, "Calm down, chess is only a game" your point will be obscure. Chess *is* the business of his life; he has no other; his only interest outside is in seeing the other fellow's nerve crack. This may also be true of children. Similarly, when Rangers play Celtic, not only many people get killed, but the event is central to the lives of many people present.'

Mary Midgley

'Q: For some reason I find these questions about compositional processes and where art comes from particularly mystifying with musical composers: Mozart, for instance, what he could do in his head!

A: And why is it that a person who's not Mozart can't do it? But if you're Mozart, or even Bobby Fischer playing chess, it's grace. You've been granted some grace.'

Q: Lynn Keller; A: Susan Howe

I caved in a couple of weeks ago when hit with the Korchnoi gambit against the Dutch. It went 1.d4 e6 2.Nf3 f5 3.h3 Nf6 4.g4, and I accepted it with 4...fxg4 5.hxg4 Nxg4. Apparently 4...d5 is better, ignoring the kingside jab and grabbing some centre. But I saw phantoms too: I thought the g-pawn would be a danger if I didn't take it.

It's always a good idea in these cases to return material to regain the initiative. I tried to, but it was too late - my king was already in trouble.

Against this line of the Morra, could you have played ...Nf6 instead of the more circuitous ...Nge7? It looks like e5 might then be a threat for white, but it's not really dangerous. As the others have said, the ...f6 idea is too slow and artificial.

And I think ...Qc7 is actually a good move - as long as ...a6 follows at once. Otherwise, well, ouch.

OK WHAT RECORD IS THAT LINE FROM???

Tell the Scientist Comrades that <blue> would have blended in better, but never mind. Red is fine, and politically *krasnoyarskishnost*.

I'm sorry, but I've worked very hard to <Achieve> my <Dom>inant role as <<Maestro of the Typo>>. <Eyal> not allow any competitors! <Jess> you try and catch me. (In the immoral words of Dr. King, "I have a dream!")

I'm actually very busy--teaching five classes (all different--but I am doing the Bigfoot class again!), along with an Independent Study. and have been thus quite busy. In fact, I must take off now (there are young minds awaiting corruption). But I am trying to follw the big Linares tourny.

I don't, really ... As you know, the games are played during office hours here, and my job (unlike yours) doesn't allow me to slack of at the moment. I did notice that Toppy was leading during a 20-second review of chess sites earlier tonight.

<I just published an ABORTION I played against the <Smith Morra Gambit> in my forum.>

1 e4 c5 2 d4 cxd4 3 c3 <Nf6>

which will typically transpose to the Alapin Sicilian, which is maybe a bit dull but easier to play.

Going <4...cxb2> is even more dangerous than the "standard" Morra where Black takes just one pawn.

As also pointed out by others, 5...Nc6 may be a bit slow. You want to play e6, Nf6, B(somewhere), d6 in some order and castle, but as you noted, Black needs to be very precise.

I myself was an Apple Mac person until the shortage of chess stuff in the 1990s made me switch to a PC.

This should really go in Deffi's forum, but I'm worried that the sentry apples are in shoot-on-sight mode.

I tried that too but failed at first attempt already... Not dead yet, though.

A combined effort is called for-- and is being delivered.

As <Ziggurat> pointed out, in addition to your advise: <Actually, playing a number of theme games as Black in the Morra would probably be an excellent exercise in defence and prophylaxis.> is very sensible and makes for a balanced approach, as one will be subject to wild and vigorous attacks, probably not sound- and needs to be skilled and unfazed, mentally, to excercise some intelligent defense for a period of time, to then emerge well on top and finish things off...

<...in addition to your advise:>"your" = Boomie