To start out, here is a line which I think Black should get the advantage:
Is There a Bust To the Smith Morra Accepted?
A correspondence player once suggested that black should fight for advantage by playing Najdorf-like setup and waiting with e6
Whenever I played the Morra, I preferred to give up the b4-square with a2-a4 and stop black's b7-b5 at any cost!
I've found an early novelty which gives Black the advantage in all variations, verified by Stockfish and several masters. https://www.chessable.com/mangle-the-morra/course/19264/
I would like to see the novelty!? I know one way for Black to get an advantage but would like to see how this compares?
I've never played the Smith-Morra, but here are a few things I notice;
- The d6 pawn is quite weak. Therefore it is not advised to play e5 for White as it allows black to play d5. Unless there is a way to exploit the a3-f8 diagonal/weaknesses, f5 is a better try. f5 forces the pawn on d6 to remain weak. White has many means of putting pressure on this pawn, like Bf4, Rd1, Nb5 even if a6 hasn't been played.
- If Black has not castled, White can easily sacrifice pieces like with Nd5 or Nxf7/e6 from g5 ideas.
(Ng5, Qf3, Bc4 etc.) - Black's pawn structure is identical to basically any other sicilian pawn structure. a7/b7/d6/e6. If White cannot make use of his space and development advantage it is basically a sicilian but White does not have a c-pawn.
idk if my analysis is correct or anything. I've never played this myself.
The lines with the Smith Morra are getting mixed into the lines on the Scandinavian [1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Qxd5]
So this forum topic is only about busting the Smith Morra Accepted. This is not a forum about the various ways to decline the Smith Morra such as 1. e4 c5 2. d4 exd4 3. c3 Nf6]
When I say "bust" it means lines where Black gets the advantage---not necessarily where Black gets a winning advantage.
This is the Smith Morra Accepted: