Chess Opening Theory/1. e4/1...c5/2. d4

Smith-Morra Gambit
a b c d e f g h 8 8 7 7 6 6 5 5 4 4 3 3 2 2 1 1 a b c d e f g h
Position in Forsyth-Edwards Notation (FEN) rnbqkbnr/pp1ppppp/8/2p5/3PP3/8/PPP2PPP/RNBQKBNR b
Moves: 1. e4 c5 2. d4

Smith-Morra Gambit

The Smith - Morra Gambit is an aggressive pawn sacrifice in order to gain development, this variation of the Sicilian Defense can lead to a sharper - tactical game but the opening is very rare nowadays.

Pros:

Gains development

Get white's king castled quicker

Cons:

Black is a pawn up

Black might have solutions to equalize the game or decline the gambit

Theory table

For explanation of theory tables, see theory table and for notation, see algebraic notation..

1. e4 c5 2. d4

	2	3	4	5
Smith-Morra Gambit	d4 cxd4	c3 dxc3	Nxc3 Nc6	Nf3 d6	=
	d4 e6	= to 1...e6 2. d4 c5

References

• Kasparov, Garry, & Keene, Raymond 1989 Batsford chess openings 2. ISBN 0-8050-3409-9.