Smith-Morra Gambit tactics

The most direct anti-Sicilian there is: give the pawn back to the centre, take two open files, and be finished developing before Black has started.

• 120 positions in the course
• Difficulty 1074–2341
• Section: Sicilian Systems
• 5 levels

What the Smith-Morra produces tactically

White gives up the c-pawn to open the c-file and the d-file at once, and then puts pieces on them faster than Black can cover the squares they hit. The compensation is real and it is entirely about time, so this is an opening in which a single slow move by either side changes the assessment completely.

The tactical shapes are consistent. A knight arriving on d5 or b5 with tempo, usually forking c7 or hitting a queen. A rook crashing into c7 against a king that has not castled. A pin against the knight or bishop holding the centre together. Black's counter-shapes are just as specific, and they mostly involve giving the pawn back at the right moment and pointing pieces at c2 and h2.

How to spot it

• Check c7 in every position. It is the square the whole gambit aims at and it is defended by the queen and nothing else in many lines.
• A knight jump to d5 or b5 is worth calculating even when it appears to lose a piece. The pins and forks behind it are the point.
• As Black, look for the moment you can hand the pawn back and finish developing. That moment exists and it is usually earlier than it feels.
• The queen on c7 and a knight coming to g4 create genuine threats against h2. Count what actually defends that square before you castle into it.

Three Smith-Morra positions

Three positions from the 120 in this skill, easiest first. The highlighted squares are the move your opponent has just played. Work it out before you open the answer.

Both sides of the argument

For White, the discipline is to keep developing rather than to start grabbing. Every piece placed on an open file is worth more than every pawn recovered, and a Smith-Morra played for material rather than for activity is just a pawn down.

For Black, the well-known defensive setups all share one idea: return the pawn, complete development, and get the queen off the c-file before a rook arrives. Declining the gambit entirely is also perfectly reasonable and sidesteps the whole discussion.

Questions people ask

Nearby patterns

Smith-Morra sits in Sicilian Systems. The rest of that section:

• Alapinc3, a big centre, two loose queens
• Closed SicilianLocked centre, opposite wings
• Grand Prix Attackf4, and go straight at it
• RossolimoBishop takes on c6, then use it
• Accelerated DragonFianchetto first, then d5 in one move
• KanPawns first, pieces later
• TaimanovA queen and knight doing two jobs
• SveshnikovA permanent hole on d5