One Mistake in the Smith-Morra Gambit can be Fatal | Climbing the Rating Ladder vs. 1966

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  • Опубликовано: 17 окт 2024
  • In this continuation of the "Climbing the Rating Ladder" series I take on players of various ratings levels while pointing out typical mistakes and spots for improvement along the way (possibly my own!? :)). Here I commentate a 10+0 game against a player rated 1966 on Chess.com. The Smith-Morra Gambit (1.e4 c5 2.d4 cxd4 3.c3) is a sound gambit, and it may especially appeal to those who play lines like the Danish Gambit or Evan's Gambit as well. Should Black accept the gambit, they ought to be 1) theoretically knowledgeable, and 2) willing to spend time should White provoke complications, e.g. sacrificing the knight on d5, as I play in this game. Remember: the sharper the position, the more you need to use your time! It's difficult or downright impossible to think your way out of a bad position in chess.
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Комментарии • 88

  • @maz4145
    @maz4145 Год назад +51

    Nice to see John learned his lesson on checking the increment 😆

    • @JohnBartholomewChess
      @JohnBartholomewChess  Год назад +26

      Yeah! 😂To that end, Chess.com should really make it more obvious what the time control is when you're playing/watching. Someone feel free to correct me if I'm wrong, but you have to look in the chat of the game and try to find it listed in tiny print in parentheses.

    • @DrColePuterbaugh
      @DrColePuterbaugh Год назад +10

      @@JohnBartholomewChess The solution is: lichess. 😄

  • @terryleddra1973
    @terryleddra1973 Год назад +37

    I would love to see John play Danya in a 15/10 game.
    I would like to see both of them post a video from their viewpoint, analysis as well from both viewpoints and a discussion after, Three great videos from the two best chess instructors on you tube.
    Make this happen!

    • @matiasiozzia9547
      @matiasiozzia9547 Год назад +6

      I completely agree! My two favorite teachers.

    • @dannytran1587
      @dannytran1587 Год назад +2

      Agreed. I’m just worried Danya’s going to make it extremely sharp and out-tactic John

  • @robertgelblum5154
    @robertgelblum5154 Год назад +12

    John plays a model Morra gambit game, giving an exemplary demonstration of just how lethal this line can be in the right hands. Regarding the Morra gambit itself: I remember a chess acquaintance many years ago who told me he was thinking of taking up the Morra (which he called the Matulovic gambit, as he was from Serbia), and who wanted to know my opinion of the gambit. My opinion then and now: I don't know if the gambit is 100% correct against perfect Black play, but it is a very dangerous practical weapon, especially against club level players and/or at fast time controls. The fact that as Black playing the Sicilian against the Morra, I would almost always give back the pawn by 3. . . Nf6 (thereby transposing to my usual choice against the Alapin/c3 Sicilian) tells you how much I personally respect, even fear, the Morra gambit accepted!

  • @rossmarino3045
    @rossmarino3045 Год назад +5

    As a member of the analysis gang, 22 min of Smith-Morra review is awesome! XD

  • @robertcooper1952
    @robertcooper1952 Год назад +2

    Thanks, John, the Smith-Morra Gambit is lots of fun.

  • @josephsalmonte4995
    @josephsalmonte4995 Год назад +10

    I was just in the mood for a chilled JB video. I love the Smith-Morrah too 🙂

  • @jamesbabkes1493
    @jamesbabkes1493 Год назад +4

    Another excellent video from one of the best chess coaches in the world!

  • @JFresh1977
    @JFresh1977 Год назад +6

    I find the Morra to be easy to learn if you're an Italian game player. If they accept the gambit then development in almost all situations follows an Italian game setup - you put your knight on F3, you put your Bishop on C4. From there, the next two likely moves come pretty naturally: QE2 and RF-D1. And don't forget IM Mark Esserman's sage advice: When in doubt - chase the queen! :)

  • @WhiskeySour89
    @WhiskeySour89 Год назад +3

    Heyyy I've been reading Mayhem in the Morra off and on this year. Good to see it featured here ❤

  • @Victor-ji1rz
    @Victor-ji1rz Год назад +3

    Just what I wanted as a 2000 rated player picking up the morra, thanks !

  • @connormonday
    @connormonday Год назад +6

    I love when you play in coffeehouse style for CTRL. Great game.
    3...e5 is also an interesting way to decline the gambit. I studied Alex Colovic's course with it and had good results. Esserman seemed to think highly of it in his book.

  • @towtruckn
    @towtruckn Год назад +3

    John great video!; your opponent in this position had the wrong move order and as you say if you intend to play as black you have to know your stuff. Playing as black It's worth going over the Siberian trap in the Smith Morra to know what your really aiming for by playing ...e6. Aside from this the best set up for black is first ...Nc6 followed by ...d6 and then ...a6 stopping the checkmate you demonstrated in the video.

    • @JohnBartholomewChess
      @JohnBartholomewChess  Год назад +1

      Thanks for watching and for your comment about the Siberian Trap, Peter! Sounds like you have personal knowledge of this line - cheers 👍

    • @towtruckn
      @towtruckn Год назад +1

      @@JohnBartholomewChess Your right I've spent some time studying the line. In the past it was not encountered so much, but with many top players like Hikaru adopting it; it's essential to have a solid understanding of the position otherwise you'll simply be wiped of the board. Anyway great content 👍

  • @kitetm7596
    @kitetm7596 Год назад +5

    Good to see you posting regularly now :D

  • @MattPotter1
    @MattPotter1 Год назад +3

    The Smith Morra is the main recommendation against the Sicilian in GM Niclas Huschenbeth’s new 1. e4 course on Chessable. I am trying to learn this right now, so the timing of your video is great! A truly interesting opening, with the knight sac on d5 and the opening up of the central files.

  • @j.walker6845
    @j.walker6845 Год назад +1

    Gotta love all the pins and pressure.

  • @katis999
    @katis999 Год назад

    excellent, what a great position and so calm and well played by John. Thanks

  • @ThomasEWalker
    @ThomasEWalker Год назад +2

    Cheers JB! Love the Smith-Morra for both sides! It's just plain fun all the time. In below-2000 chess, you're almost always on your own and you have to be creative... and I always take the pawn as Black. 'Mine mine mine, allllll mine!' ~ Daffy Duck. Greedy little guy. (My idol.)
    :-)

  • @joeyblogsy
    @joeyblogsy Год назад +9

    Smith-Morra is a great opening, I’m glad to see you play it more and more 👍 😎

  • @adamh6094
    @adamh6094 Год назад +2

    Thanks John!
    At my level, a6 and e6 work well against the smith-morra. I’ll be keeping an eye out for that pesky dark square bishop though…
    Very instructive! Thanks, and take care 😊

  • @screamingliner
    @screamingliner Год назад +2

    Pre-engine analysis is my favorite part!

  • @sumumu1995
    @sumumu1995 Год назад +2

    Love the Smith-Morra and your commentary!

  • @goldenlion3184
    @goldenlion3184 Год назад +2

    Phew! A 10/0 game where I didn't bite off all my fingernails! Nice game and great analysis!

  • @aaronjosephs2560
    @aaronjosephs2560 Год назад +1

    I just recently started playing the Smith-Morra and having so much fun with it

  • @ayanokojikiyotaka4712
    @ayanokojikiyotaka4712 Год назад +1

    Thanks John, this inspired me to learn the Smith Morra gambit. I really liked the position for white, it felt more spacey and clean haha.

  • @ccccccc3333
    @ccccccc3333 Год назад +9

    analysis gang 🤜🤛

  • @griffinbur1118
    @griffinbur1118 Год назад +11

    Really rooting for John to throw in a "mocked" or "banned".

  • @fireballxl-5748
    @fireballxl-5748 Год назад +2

    Hey John, Been a long while since I've commented on your videos. Very interesting game. BTW, I hope you made a fortune on Chessable as I suspected you would. God bless you John. Re:Esserman (sp?) nobody knows the Smith Morra better than Esserman!

  • @danicajohnson2664
    @danicajohnson2664 Год назад +3

    After 8..b5? 9.Bxb5! is what Marc Esserman himself has played almost a dozen times. I haven't studied it myself, but after 9.Bb3 Na5 is really annoying. The position after 9.Bxb5 looks like a LOT of fun to a Morra player like myself.

  • @Slurmzy
    @Slurmzy Год назад +1

    D5 is also a good way to decline the Morra, and I think it's what Yasser recommended in one of his SLCC videos. I think just using whatever line transposes into your main Alapin line is the way to go though (for me thats D5).
    I remember Danya saying that some past world champion or great player from like 100 years ago used to say that Nf6 is clearly the only critical move vs the Alapin, don't remember who that was though. D3 is interesting though and keeps the game in unique territory, might look into that.
    Awesome stuff though John as always! Easily some of the best chess content out there.

  • @paulm4431
    @paulm4431 Год назад

    Love the Morra! Thanks for the video. I would like to see one where your opponent plays a fianchetto on the kingside and then castles behind it. I really struggle in those positions.

  • @solomonherskowitz
    @solomonherskowitz Год назад +1

    Great video as always

  • @ryanonymous
    @ryanonymous Год назад +3

    last couple of videos you can really hear the noise gate working on your microphone. the release sounds a bit aggressive and it's a bit pumping and breathing when your voice gets quieter...

  • @leo-um6yt
    @leo-um6yt Год назад +1

    Hey John, at 7:30 did you look at Qf6 instead of Bg3

    • @JohnBartholomewChess
      @JohnBartholomewChess  Год назад

      Nope I don't think I looked at it, but could be a candidate move I imagine it'd be kinda like the analysis later where ...Rg8-g6 was helpful for Black

  • @Evilanious
    @Evilanious Год назад +2

    2:10. This is one thing titled players don't realize. How lonely you are at the top. The vast, vast majority of the userbase of the big chess sites are casual players that would get trounced by weak club players. That guy you played is in the top 0.2 percentile. That 2 is after the decimal.

    • @juleslondon3088
      @juleslondon3088 Год назад

      Yeah, I think 1500 CC Rapid is top 3%, which surprised me as 1500s tend to make a lot of basic errors. I think ~2000, like this guy, is a strong club player though; not your almost-master-level ones but strong nonetheless.

    • @Evilanious
      @Evilanious Год назад

      Correct. I didn't mean he was a weak club player. Just that the large bulk of players are below 1000

  • @caius6019
    @caius6019 Год назад +7

    1900+ rapid is well into top 1%. When i hit around 1740ish i was top 1% so i can imagine 1900 is pretty deep!
    Players a beast lol

    • @inf0phreak
      @inf0phreak Год назад +1

      Excuse me, but I'm rated ~2200 classical on Lichess, and it says I'm "better than 98.7% of classical players". No way someone rated below 2000 is "well into top 1%"

    • @JohnBartholomewChess
      @JohnBartholomewChess  Год назад +11

      @@inf0phreak It's possible, since lichess ratings are mostly inflated compared to Chess.com.

    • @greenUserman
      @greenUserman Год назад

      But yeah, lichess ratings are also inflated, especially for rapid and even more so classical.

  • @dannytran1587
    @dannytran1587 Год назад +1

    Love when you play stronger opponents

  • @meu02136
    @meu02136 Год назад +2

    It’s weird watching this without juri’s theme playing

  • @seanunderscorepry
    @seanunderscorepry Год назад +2

    When the game is over in nearly 10 minutes and you see about 20 minutes of video to go ❤❤❤

  • @danjeory3659
    @danjeory3659 Год назад +1

    The a6, d6, Ne7, Nc6 set-up is the set-up I use against the SM, as this is what I saw John doing whenever he faced it in lichess plays. I love this set-up, as it's so solid and, at my level at least, white has difficulty proving any compensation and often those players snap at some point and lash out recklessly. Unlike this opponent though, I find it best to get the Queen to c7 early instead of going for a quick b5 and Bb7. This avoids any Nd5 shenanigans....

  • @Orion-zq8jf
    @Orion-zq8jf Год назад +1

    10 plus 0 is my go to nowadays... around hitting 40.. not as fast as i used to be lol

  • @westofwahpeton4692
    @westofwahpeton4692 Год назад +2

    I have a hard time playing fast enough even when my opponent blasts out moves lol.
    I do have wins when I have less than 10 seconds left and my opponent has 2 minutes. I see a lot of players that play bullet at all time controls.

  • @dannytran1587
    @dannytran1587 Год назад +1

    9:00 Deadly!

  • @swift8821
    @swift8821 Год назад +1

    Here’s a funny line. At 10:00 instead of bd6 you play qf6. If black replies with O-O then be5 is forced mate!

  • @kdawghomie
    @kdawghomie Год назад +1

    Love the Smith-Morra, but man is it double-edged in classical (my preferred time control). I'm assuming my issue is that, at 2000 rating Lichess, I'm just not tactically strong enough to extract everything I should out of this opening.

    • @marcofrey2903
      @marcofrey2903 Год назад

      Yeah. I generally do great with it but I'm considering taking up a main line as an alternate weapon. It's nice to know you have another option, and it can be surprisingly refreshing to play a line where you have many options and you don't have to prove some positional compensation or be anxious if you're losing the initiative.

  • @stag6161
    @stag6161 Год назад +1

    Good stuff

  • @marcofrey2903
    @marcofrey2903 Год назад

    Very instructive! I've been playing the Morra exclusively from 1000-1700 and I'm in no hurry to adopt a main line. Though, if you have a favorite, send me your recommendations, y'all! Currently, I'm looking into diving headfirst into Open Sicilian territory but I'm also considering the Alapin, Delayed Alapin, or Rossolimo. (For reference, I generally like attacking, open positions with earlier threats. I play the Evans Gambit, Greco non-gambit (e5), Scotch Gambit, Knight Attack, Fantasy, Modified Milner Barry, etc.)

  • @dkol2000
    @dkol2000 Год назад +1

    nice background!

  • @alexf0101
    @alexf0101 Год назад +1

    gotta love the morra

  • @saitamabeach2200
    @saitamabeach2200 Год назад

    Looks like the Scottish flag? With a current rating of 1966! That's bloody hilarious 😂

  • @josiahroyer1062
    @josiahroyer1062 Год назад +1

    SMG ftw!

  • @Ss010101
    @Ss010101 Год назад

    There's a Smith-Morra Gambit Declined, Scandinavian Formation variation as well. c3 answered by d5. Jussayin'. ;) Esserman collab when??

  • @trapperjohn7571
    @trapperjohn7571 Год назад

    I'd guess that your opponent thought he was winning after 11... exd5 because he wasn't calculating far enough ahead to see just how dangerous that pawn would be. Maybe there's some chess term for this concept I'm not aware of, but something that bothers me is enemy pawns I can't challenge with my own pawns. Also, any pawn in my half of the board is cause for concern

  • @ztobinz
    @ztobinz Год назад +2

    Hey John this is guys

  • @knishofdeath
    @knishofdeath Год назад +2

    I recently bought the Mayhem Chessable course. Having fun already but haven't learned all the lines yet as some of the moves are wild and unintuitive.

  • @mikaelplaysguitar
    @mikaelplaysguitar Год назад

    Knight d5 double exclam!!

  • @DreamyJives
    @DreamyJives Год назад

    @19:49 - Dictum? I barely knew him.

  • @SuperYtc1
    @SuperYtc1 Год назад +1

    John spends 1% of his time to play e4.

    • @JohnBartholomewChess
      @JohnBartholomewChess  Год назад

      The intro is worth it 😉

    • @SuperYtc1
      @SuperYtc1 Год назад +1

      @@JohnBartholomewChess New series: Using the clock as an intro. 😂
      But joking aside yes I agree!

  • @firebug3256
    @firebug3256 Год назад

    Analysis gang rise up!

  • @platonfoucault1087
    @platonfoucault1087 Год назад

    Do we have increment here!?!?!

  • @MrSupernova111
    @MrSupernova111 5 месяцев назад

    In all fairness, you're right that those that play this system likely know it much better than players on the black side who might not see it often. You know about the Esserman-Vishy game so you also probably know the Esserman-Van Wely game which followed a similar line as the one you played and Esserman blew Van Wely off the board. No disrespect to you but this game shows the hypocrisy of titled players when they say opening theory isn't so important. Respect to the opponent for defending as best he could deep into the opening stage.
    If anyone wants to avoid the main line (...e6) but also doesn't want to go into the Alapin there is also 5...d6 which cuts out much of the nonsense from the white side and its far more practical in my opinion.

    • @JohnBartholomewChess
      @JohnBartholomewChess  5 месяцев назад

      There are many degrees of understanding when it comes to openings. For example, I know of the Esserman - van Wely game, but more so the general theme, that is Esserman sticking his knight on d5 when van Wely had played ...b7-b5 and Black getting torched. I was not sure about the exact move order, but remembering the idea is helpful, of course.

    • @MrSupernova111
      @MrSupernova111 5 месяцев назад

      @@JohnBartholomewChess . Yep. That's the one. My point is that opening theory does matter probably starting at the intermediate level. I agree that its a matter of degrees and of course opening theory should only be part of overall chess study. However, it seems to me that too many titled players don't feel that opening theory is important for us amateurs while they spend most of their time learning theory. You may not be one of those but its just what I have observed.
      Anyway, nice game. Thanks for the reply!

  • @satcheljones
    @satcheljones 29 дней назад

    HE DIDN'T READ THE BOOK
    HE DIDN'T READ THE DAMN BOOK
    BAAAAANNED
    black had to play f6 and castle by hand. i personally prefer the early Bb4 followed by Nge7, and in my experience what black gives up for castling quickly usually is paid back by having trouble playing d5. it's a holdable position and black can come out ahead if he plays well -- well, in any case, it's good to make white play positionally around the d pawn. no more fun mates for white - get him out of the damn book. make him prove that the pawn sac works.

  • @bbbrown3408
    @bbbrown3408 Год назад

    all a forced loss stay clear any sharp theory you will never need it horrible theory