Smirnov gambit

The Smirnov gambit was not invented by Grandmaster Igor Smirnov, he saw a move of a player in a blitz game, analyzed it and discovered it was rarely used but very effective. It starts e4, c5, Nf3, Nc6 and the signature move : b4. This may look pointless at first sight but if Black captures, which he does 99% of the time, white plays either c3 if black captured with the Knight, then Black plays Nc6 and white d4, creating a pawn center or d4 if black captures with a pawn. Seeming as the whole point of the Sicilian defense is to stop white making a pawn center, this gambit turns the c5 move into a wasted move. Search Smirnov Gambit on YouTube to find a video where Grandmaster Igor Smirnov analyzes the Opening.