3 c3 dxc3

3 c3



More devious generosity!

3 Nf3!?
3 Bc4?!
3 Qxd4?!
3 f4?!




3 Nf3!? Attacks d4 in order to encourage the
clingy response 3 ... e5. The goal is to deflect Black's
attention from the focal d5 post: 3 ... e5 4 c3 dxc3
5 Nxc3 Nc6 6 Bc4 Bb4 7 O-O Nf6 8 Nd5. Please note,
a well supported knight on d5 usually gives White
excessive reach into enemy territory (b6, c7, e7, f6).
Black needs those very same squares for his own development!



3 Nf3!? Qa5+ 4 c3 dxc3 5 Nxc3 Nc6 6 Bc4 e6
7 O-O a6 8 Bf4 Nge7 9 a3 Ng6 10 b4 Qh5.
3 Bc4?! The f7 square is the prime target.
That particular point is the most vulnerable one
in Black's camp because it has no other ready
protector except for the King. However, its
downfall is not that catastrophic: 3 ... Nc6
4 Nf3 Nf6 5 Nxd4 Nxe4 6 Bxf7+ Kxf7 7 Qh5+ Kg8
8 Qd5+ e6 9 Qxe4 Qb6 10 Nf3 d5.



3 Bc4?! Nc6 4 Nf3 Nf6 5 Nxd4 Nxe4
6 Bxf7+ Kxf7 7 Qh5+ g6 8 Qd5+ e6 9 Qxe4 d5.
The drawback to 3 Bc4?! is that it denies
White the fast and potentially lethal
mobilization he often gets from an
immediate attack on d4 (3 c3).



3 Qxd4?! The Queen doesn't need to come
out this early. She's simply too valuable for that.
Besides, she's just hindering the easy and smooth
development of her own men:

3 ... Nc6 4 Qe3 Nf6 5 Nc3 e6 6 Nf3 d5 7 exd5 Nxd5
8 Nxd5 Qxd5 9 c4 Qh5 10 Be2 Bb4+ 11 Nd2 Qe5.

3 ... dxc3



3 ... g6!?
3 ... Nf6!?
3 ... e6!?
3 ... d5!?
3 ... d6!?
3 ... d3?!
3 ... e5!?
3 ... Nc6!?
3 ... Qa5!?




3 ... g6!? The idea is not new: Let White
build up a center that Black can subsequently
demolish. A bishop on g7 is well posted to
further that objective:



3 ... g6!? 4 cxd4 d5 5 exd5 Nf6 6 Nc3 Nxd5
7 Qb3 Nb6 8 Bb5+ Bd7 9 Nf3 Bg7 10 Ne5 O-O
11 Nxd7 N8xd7 12 Be3 Nf6 13 O-O Nfd5 14 a4 a5.
3 ... g6!? 4 cxd4 d5 5 e5 Nc6 6 Nc3 Bg7
7 Bb5 Nh6 8 Qa4 Bd7 9 Nxd5 a6.



3 ... Nf6!? Dominating the center, thanks
to the b1 knight's absence from c3:

3 ... Nf6!? 4 e5 Nd5 5 Nf3 Nc6
6 Bc4 Nb6 7 Bb3 d5 8 exd6 Qxd6
9 O-O Be6.



3 ... e6!? Flexing his muscle in the center
(... d5), thanks again to the knight's b1 fixation:



3 ... e6 4 Nf3 d5 5 exd5 Qxd5
6 cxd4 Nf6 7 Nc3 Bb4 8 Bd3 O-O
9 O-O Qa5 10 Bg5 Nbd7 11 Rc1 h6
12 Bf4 Rd8 13 Ne5 Nxe5 14 Bxe5
14 ... Nd7 15 a3 Be7 16 Qe2 Nxe5
17 dxe5 Bd7 18 Qe4 g6 19 Qe3 Bc6.



3 ... d5!? 4 Qxd4 Be6 5 Bb5+ Nc6 6 Nf3 a6
7 Bxc6+ bxc6 8 O-O.



3 ... d3?! Allows the f1 bishop to purposefully
develop to d3. On the upside, the White Queen
is shut off from the half open d-file, after
the bishop lands on d3:



3 ... d3?! 4 Bxd3 Nc6 5 Nf3 d5 6 O-O Nf6
7 exd5 Qxd5 8 c4 Qh5 9 Bg5 e5 10 Bxf6 gxf6
11 Nc3.



3 ... e5!? In order to support d4 and also
activate the Queen and f8 bishop along d8-h4
and f8-a3 respectively: 4 cxd4 exd4 5 Qxd4 Nc6
6 Qd1 Nf6 7 Nc3 Bb4 8 Bg5 h6 9 Bxf6 Qxf6
10 Qf3 Qg6 11 O-O-O d6 12 Qg3.



3 ... e5!? 4 Nf3 Nc6 5 cxd4 exd4 6 Nxd4 Nf6
7 Nc3 Nxe4 8 Nxe4 Qe7 9 Bd3 Nxd4 10 O-O d5
11 Ng5 Qd6.
3 ... Nc6!? 4 cxd4 d5 5 Nc3 dxe4
6 d5 Ne5 7 Bb5+.



3 ... Nc6!? 4 cxd4 d5 5 Nc3 Nf6 6 e5 Ne4
7 Bd3 Nxc3 8 bxc3 e6 9 Nf3 Be7 10 h4 h6
11 h5 Bd7 12 Rh3 Qc7 13 Kf1 Na5
14 Rb1 Qxc3 15 Rg3 Bf8 16 Kg1 Rc8.
3 ... Qa5!? 4 Nf3 dxc3 5 Nxc3 Nc6 6 Bc4 a6
7 O-O b5 8 Bb3 b4 9 Nd5 e6 10 Ne3 Nf6
11 Nc4 Qh5 12 Re1 Bc5 13 Nd6+ Kf8
14 Bf4 Qg4 15 Qc1.



3 ... Nf6.
3 ... d5.

3 ... d3 4 Bxd3 Nc6 5 c4 ( 5 Nf3 g6
6 0-0 Bg7 7 Qe2 d6 8 Rd1 Bg4 9 Nbd2)

5 ... Nf6 6 Nc3 d6 7 h3 g6 8 Nf3 Bg7
9 0-0 Nd7 10 Be3.

3 ... dxc3

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Nice bit of theory there, especially covering early sidelines. I might have missed this when I studied about 40 lines of Smith Morra accepted, but it's my FAVORITE opening ever where I've failed at the advance, exchange, grand prix and wing gambits, but after learning just 40 lines, I imediately started winning at a +200 rating at that. Ignore anyone who says Smith Morra is "unsound"! At 1500, the ONLY opponents that beat me were 1700 or more, and I claimed a few scalps. I love gambits, and this is my favorite one. Thanks for sharing. I'll need to learn this theory when I get back to playing again.