Before I begin, let me tell you that I am a d4 player who occasionally plays e4 and Nf3. I love playing against e5 when it is a response to e4, but when players play c5 (Sicilian), I find some trouble coming up with a clear plan. Perhaps playing e4 more often would change that. If you want to get the most out of this you should probably use your own board or download ChessBase or other programs which will allow you to record moves. Let's begin.
1. e4 c5
2. d4 (everyone continues the Sicilian with Nf3)
Even here I love this opening. Why? Because anything that Black plays other than cxd4 gives a fairly nice advantage to White. I won't go into this at this time, but look at it this way: White's center pawns are developed, they can be easily protected by knights or bishops, and Black's pawns are still at bay.
2 ... cxd4
After this, White can play Qxd4 or Nf3 and have an okay position, but we're playing the Smith-Morra Gambit.
3. c3
It's very important to note that getting to this position is not at all difficult; all your opponent has to do is play c5. After c3 things can get tricky because Black does not always play dxc3 (Smith-Morra Gambit), but it is Black's strongest move. At this time, we will look at alternatives to dxc3, before looking at dxc3 itself. Black's alternatives, in order of ther frequency played (based on correspondence playing sites), include: Nc6, Nf6, d6, e6, d5, d3, g6, and e5. Because I want this article to leave you with everything you need to know in order to play, understand, and in time, perhaps even develop your own repertoire on the Smith-Morra Gambit, we'll look at each move individually.
3 ... Nc6 (it was surprising to me that this was the most frequently played move). With out going into this too much, Black has two bishops completely open, the knights are ready to jump to their ideal squares (c3 and f3), and and pawns are centralized.
4. cxd4 d5 (among other moves)
5. exd5 Qxd5
6. Nf3 Bg4
7. Nc3 (Eventually, this move would force the queen to move). Here, White will be able to complete his king side development because he will be able to castle in two moves, while it will take Black four moves to castle. If Black were to go queen side, his knight and bishop would still be left undefended.
3 ... Nf6
4. e5 Nd5 Moving back to g8 loses to the cxd4, White would have two developed pawns versus none of Black's developed pieces.
5. cxd4 This is an equal position, with maybe a slight advantage to White. On the bright side, White will castle soon, his bishops' diagonals are open, and the knights are ready to come out.
3 ... d6
4. cxd4 Leaves White with a slight advantage due to his superiority in space.
3 ... e6
4. cxd4 The central pawns will leave White with a slightly stronger position.
3 ... d5
4. exd5 Qxd5
5. cxd4 Nc6
6. Nf3 Bg4
7. Nc3 Gives White a clear advantage because of his development.
3 ... d3
4. Bxd3 No need to go further.
3 ... g6
4. cxd4 The developed central pawns will give White some advantage.
3 ... e5 Is Black being greedy?
4. Nf3 Nf6
5. cxd4 A slight advantage to White, but chances for both sides.
Please note, that these are just some of the variations I've looked at, with little to no computer analysis. Now, we finally get to look at the dxc3.
3 ... dxc3
4. Nxc3
White has a two move advantage in development, with a pawn in the center and a developed center pawn. What I love the most about this position is how clear White's plan is compared to Black's:
- Develop the light-squared bishop to c4 which seems the most ideal square for it.
- Develop the dark-squared bishop either e3 or f4, based on Black's position.
- Castle king side after Nf3.
- Put the "a" rook on c1 and put the "h" rook on d1.
In my Chessmaster database, I found 642 games with the current position out of 780,000+. The highest shown Elo that White has in this position is 2590 (Adams, Michael) and the highest for Black is 2655 (Timman, Jan H). The following game is a good example of how to play this opening:
White can force mate in 3 moves.
29 ... hxg5
30. h6! Qe5
31. Qxe5 Bxf3
32. Qxg7#
I hope that this has helped you get a good handle on this opening. I will continue working on it myself, and of course I'll share my findings. In the future, I hope to do a few articles on King's Gambit and especially my favorite opening, the Queen's Gambit, as well as other gambits. Also, I hope to write about gambits that Black can play.
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