| Searching the databases at the Michigan Chess website
(www.michess.org) will tell you that the Sicilian is by far the most popular
game among Michigan’s amateur chessplayers. The questions to this
column have certainly reflected that! After looking at Black opening
debacles in the Sicilian over the last two columns, this month we get to
watch White suffer against yet another promising sideline of the Smith-Morra
gambit. An anonymous reader writes: “I recently got crushed in a
line I’ve never seen before by Black. After 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4
cd 4.c3 dc 5.Nxc3 e6 6.Bc4 he played 6...Qc7. I saw that 7.Nb5 can
be met with ...Qb8, ...a6, and ...b5, gaining time, so I continued with
what I thought was the regular line. But after 7.0-0 Nf6 8.Qe2 Ng4!
9.h3? |
|
| “9…Nd4! leaves me either mated or losing my queen!
What should I have played to avoid this terrible attack? I’m the
one who should be attacking!” |
| The Morra is not the best of all possible gambits.
It is no sounder than the much less common Wing Gambit (1.e4 c5 2.b4).
Taimanov and Scheveningen adherents can play the counterattacking 1.e4
c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cd 4.c3 dc 5.Nxc3 a6 6.Bc4 b5 7.Bb3 Bb7, when the threat
of ...b4 is so strong that NCO gives the passive 8.a3 as White’s main line!
In addition, Michigan’s own Bob Ciaffone and Ben Finegold have written
a highly praised book in defense of Black’s position after 5...d6 (just
about any move order can get here) 6.Bc4 Be7 7.0-0 Nf6 8.Qe2 a6 9.Rd1 b5
10.Bb3 Nbd7. 6...Qc7 looks like yet another strong option for Black
against the Morra, though it is true that White can avoid the very nice
trap played by Black above. |
| White does not have time for 7.Qe2 and 8.0-0
in this line of the Morra, in either move order. The position
after 8...Ng4 is rated -/+ by NCO, and I see little reason to disagree.
White can avoid the trap, but what does she really have? The best
I see is 9.Nb5 Qb8 10.h3 h5!, and I would take Black here in a heartbeat.
White should pick a plan based on just one of these moves, with the following
possible continuations: |
| A) 7.Qe2 Nf6 8.e5 Ng4 9.Bf4 d5! 10.Bd3 (10.ed Bxd3 11.Nb5 Bb4+ 12.Bd2
Qe7 gives nothing) 10...Nb4, when White has a cramping pawn on e5 and some
initiative as partial compensation. If you think you can outplay
your opponent in a complex ending, 11.Bb5+ Bd7 12.h3 deserves some attention
here, the idea being the exchange sacrifice 12...Bxb5 13.Qxb5+ Qd7 14.hg
Nc2+ 15.Ke2 Nxa1 16.Rxa1. |
|
| B) 7.0-0 Nf6 8.Nb5 (losing time, as you note, but what else?) 8...Qb8
9.e5 gives White some compensation after either 9...Ng4 10.Bf4 a6 11.Nd6+
Bxd6 12.ed (NCO) or 9...Nxe5 10.Nxe5 Qxe5 11.Re1 Qc5 12.Bf1!? a6 13.Be3
Qc6 14.Rc1 ab 15.Rxc6 bc. These sequences are probably White’s best. |
|
| I encourage you all to send in middle and endgame
as well as opening questions! To start us off on this trend, I’ve included
an interesting pawn ending that I unjustly won against the redoubtable
Ed Mandell. Mr. Mandell thoroughly outplayed me in the middlegame to reach
the following position, with White to play: |
|
| Black is a pawn up, and though he cannot hold it,
this is the key! White (yours truly) blundered here with the natural
38.Ke2? After this lemon, Black has a forced win starting with 38...d4!
White cannot allow the passer on e3 to stand, so he must play 39.cd Ke6
40.Kxe3 (40.d5+ Kxd5 gives Black a crucial tempo) 40...Kd5: |
|
| Black is three moves ahead here in a straight race.
If White plays 41.g4 to freeze the kingside, Black can eventually force
a passer on the other wing, which he will then sacrifice, capture d3 if
he has not done so already, and capture White’s h and g pawns to win over
there. At some point the sequence Kd2 Kxd4 will have to occur, and then
Black can use the c5 square for his king to finish the job. |
| So in the original position, I should have played
38.d4 myself to forestall this. White’s defense is still tough, but after
38…Ke6 39.Ke2 Kd6 40.Kxe3 Kc6 the idea of 41.h4! would pull my bacon out
of the fire. There are many variations, but White can just draw all of
them. |
| But Black missed the sacrifice, playing instead
38…h5? This is a double mistake: White will have the better king position
after Ke2xe3-d4, and if there is a draw Black will have to work very hard
to find it. This is an example of why an active King is so important
in the ending – in two moves a win became a loss! After 39.Kxe3 b5?
40.Kd4 White wins, since the king’s route to the queenside cannot be denied,
and Black resigned on 45. |
| Please, send your questions to Don at mca-editor@home.com.
We look forward to hearing from you! |
