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ANNOTATED GAME
Smith Morra Gambit #1
W. Fuchs (?) vs. W. Merkel (?)
Annotated by: raskerino (1841)
Chess opening: Sicilian (B21), Smith-Morra gambit, Chicago defence
W. Fuchs (?) vs. W. Merkel (?)
Annotated by: raskerino (1841)
Chess opening: Sicilian (B21), Smith-Morra gambit, Chicago defence
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This is the first game in a series on the delightfully aggresive Smith-Morra gambit. Black's king is frequently stuck in the middle if he makes any innaccuracy and white's pieces will flood forward. | |||||
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1. e4 |
This is the first game in a series on the delightfully aggresive Smith-Morra gambit. Black's king is frequently stuck in the middle if he makes any innaccuracy and white's pieces will flood forward. | ||||
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1... c5 2. d4 cxd4 3. c3 dxc3 4. Nxc3 |
This is the opening position of the smith-morra gambit. While black has no weaknesses and white has only gotten one developing move he has VERY easy development (though white must choose the correct squares) and two nice files to use. | ||||
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4... Nc6 |
A standard response, there are any number of defenses for black, and while white may not always have complete compensation he will get play and activity. | ||||
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5. Nf3 d6 6. Bc4 e6 |
The normal move, though I've played the prophylactic ...a6 as black in this position. The idea behind this move is to block the highly dangerous a2-g8 diagonal. The bishop is quite imposing on c4, and white's pieces can flood forward incredibly easily. To give some sense of the dangers for black here's a quick line: 6... Nf6?! 7.e5! Nxe5?? 8.Nxe5 dxe5 9.Bxf7! wins black's queen. e5 frequently leads to black getting in a very dangerous situation. | ||||
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7. O-O Nf6 8. Qe2 |
This is the main move for white, and it's a key move to the opening. The queen does a great job supporting the e5 push, and this prepares Rd1! which exerts huge pressure against black's queen. | ||||
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8... a6 |
Black is struggling to cope with all the attacking points white has. b5 is frequently a great square for a bishop to check with or a knight to attack c7 or d6 from. Black's development has come slowly, but his positions is playable, his pawn are defensive but they control good squares. White needs to attack quickly, or black will have time to complete development. Thus white activates with threats as much as possible. | ||||
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9. Rd1 |
This move brings the threat of e5! where the d pawn is pinned and white will back his pawn (he threatens to win d6) with a nice advantage. | ||||
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9... Qc7 |
Black must vacate the d file. He has a few choices, but it's hard to say that any are better than this. After 9... Bd7 (which is decent move) black's d pawn grows weak because the queen doesn't defend it. After 9... Qa5 white gains time with a standard maneuver of a3 and b4, which gives white a nice space advantage EVERYWHERE on the board. White is still successful in forcing black to respond to threats, white is amost fully developed and black has not yet castled. | ||||
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10. Bf4 |
White brings the bishop to it's best square, not only does it eye black's queen but it prepares the powerful e5. | ||||
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10... e5 |
This is a bad move (the developing 10... Be7 is stronger) but at this point white's dark squared bishop looks very dangerous and the Bc4 is not so threatening (so now, the pawn isn't needed on e6 to close down the diagonal), while this seems natural (and is sometimes very good), it has a huge drawback. Namely, the d5 square has been given to white's pieces. | ||||
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11. Nd5 |
Definitely the most powerful response. If white's bishop retreats then black's weakening move will be justified. This takes advantage of the new weakness. | ||||
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11... Nxd5 |
It turns out that 11... Qd8 which slows down white's opening up of the game is stronger. | ||||
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12. exd5 |
The intended continuation. White's pin on the e file makes his bishop safe and he attacks the c6 knight. | ||||
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12... Ne7 |
12... Na5 seems more enterprising but after 13.Rac1 I can't claim black has much hope. White's f4 bishop is now attacked and white must do something about it. | ||||
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13. Nxe5 |
Of course! White has no desire to retreatin the smith-morra when he doesn't have to, and after this move white's got a huge advantage. Black cannot risk taking as after 13... dxe5 14.d6! comes like a hammerblow. | ||||
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13... f6 |
Now black is threatening to take white's knight. This time (sadly) white is forced to retreat. But white is up material and his pieces still dominate the board. | ||||
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14. Nf3 b5 |
Black hopes to activate, and he's playing his strongest moves... but white can play simple, retreating moves now and retain his advantage. | ||||
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15. Bb3 Kf7 |
Black needs a square for his king, and castling seems impossible. | ||||
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16. Rac1 |
White activates his pieces to perfect squares. Even after the tactics have (for the moment) died down, white can develop with gain of time. His pieces also all seem to be able to flood into the attack. | ||||
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16... Qd8 |
Black is pushed completely to the back rank... except a knight and a wayward king. It's time for more tactical blows. How can white bring his b3 bishop into the game? | ||||
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