My guess would be probably not because most of the time, declining will lead to the 2...d5 Alapin or 2...Nf6 Alapin by transposition.
They might cover the real obscure ones that fo not transpose, but you will likely need a book on the Alapin if you are going to play the dubious Smith-Moron Gambit
My guess would be probably not because most of the time, declining will lead to the 2...d5 Alapin or 2...Nf6 Alapin by transposition.
They might cover the real obscure ones that fo not transpose, but you will likely need a book on the Alapin if you are going to play the dubious Smith-Moron Gambit
I do okay with the Smith-Morra
Does Mark Esserman’s book, Mayhem in the Morra cover Declined Variations? Sadly, not every player Accepts the gambit.
Shouldnt be any confusion of what covered given an index is there.
Very entertaining book, which seems to cover all the 'known' variations. My feeling though, is that 'Black is OK!' if he dares to dabble in some more obscure lines.
Hi Ziryab!
Mark Esserman beat GM Loek van Wely (no. 10 in the world in 2001, rated 2714, won the Dutch chess championship eight times, six consecutive) at the 112 U.S. Open with the Smith-Morra in 26 moves. Maybe the opening is not completely dubious. I will never be facing someone that strong 
Anyway, I ask about the Smith-Morra Declined simply because our local Original Life Master and instructor plays the Declined against me.
To be awarded this title, one must hold a master's rating of over 2200 for at least 300 USCF-rated tournament chess games. ... Original Life Masters had to play 300 games as a Master without going below 2200 in their rating or the count would start over again.
He was one of less than 50 in the U.S. at the time to receive the Original Life Master title. USCF changed it to the easier requirement some years later.
Does Mark Esserman’s book, Mayhem in the Morra cover Declined Variations? Sadly, not every player Accepts the gambit.
Shouldnt be any confusion of what covered given an index is there.
Thank you! I couldn’t see a table of contents on Amazon.
Very entertaining book, which seems to cover all the 'known' variations. My feeling though, is that 'Black is OK!' if he dares to dabble in some more obscure lines.
Absolutely. Black is completely OK. The Smith-Morra is just one of the gambits I like to play when in the mood for a good tactical battle. My Life Master instructor also encouraged me to take up a few gambits to sharpen my tactics.
He does, although his analysis in the 3...d5 Alapin is not convincing, and the lines he suggests against 3...Nf6 can hardly pose any problems to Black.
I see references to the Finegold Defense when combating the Smith-Morra. Any idea what that’s about?
He does, although his analysis in the 3...d5 Alapin is not convincing, and the lines he suggests against 3...Nf6 can hardly pose any problems to Black.
3...Nf6. Of course! Whenever I play the Life Master he never plays a line I know. I had a terrible position after 1.e4 c4 2.d4 cxd4 3.c3 Nf6. I was waiting for him to take on c3, but no, he confused me with 3...Nf6 and I played, not 4.e5, but the horrible 4.Bd3 and lost in 14 moves.
My first Smith-Morra against him went much better. Mind you, our rating gap is 1400 points in blitz! I lasted 31 moves where it ended in a rook and pawn with him up three pawns. Not bad for this patzer I employed an improvised Smith-Morra/Scotch Gambit which I may try in the future. Maybe Black can’t play any pet anti-Morra lines? It went 1.e4 c5 2.d4 cxd4 3.Nf3!? e5 4.c3 dxc3 5.Nxc3 Nc6 6.Bc4 - and White is better ( +.62) down a pawn! Stockfish calls this line the Sicilian: Andreaschek Gambit. Chess.com calls it the Smith-Morra, Morphy. It was at a time when I knew little about the Smith-Morra, knowing far better the Scotch Gambit. I think I will try this line against my other low rated opponents
The very first game I played against the Life Master was my precious London. That was a disaster. Full ready to play the first ten moves with my eyes closed, after 1.d4, he plays 1...c5 and I look at him, wondering what the heck is that !? He told me later that I needed to play 2.d5, which has nothing to do with that beautiful and solid pawn triangle: c3-d4-e3. I tried the pawn triangle, after first playing 2.Bf4, just like the books say to do. Well, as soon as he saw my bishop leave he played Qb6 and I dropped a few pawns and was beyond lost after just ten moves. This guy just won’t play into my lines. Arg!
I see references to the Finegold Defense when combating the Smith-Morra. Any idea what that’s about?
According to Esserman, the Finegold Defence is reached after:
Writes Esserman: "On 10. Bb3, Black ices the fire on the d-file with 10... Nbd7 (...). In only a few more moves, he will complete his development with a free pawn to spare, thereby utterly eradicating the Morra Gambit from the chess planet."
I have not read the rest of the chapter on the Finegold Defence, so I can't tell you how White should counter, but there you go, that's it: the Finegold Defence.
Does Mark Esserman’s book, Mayhem in the Morra cover Declined Variations? Sadly, not every player Accepts the gambit.