Watson on Trent: The Smith-Morra Gambit

Lawrence Trent: The Smith-Morra Gambit

Review by John Watson

Drawing upon his own experience and analysis, Lawrence Trent put together a complete DVD on the Smith-Morra Gambit, 1 e4 c5 2 d4 cxd4 3 c3.

Trent's presentation is systematic and clearly outlined, and he doesn't ignore challenging lines. His is a good example of how a video DVD can provide a solid starting point even if it isn't as analytically complete as a full-length book on the subject. I think this is particularly useful in the case of an opening like the Morra, because it's a great opening with which to teach younger players basics like the value of development, while developing their tactical skills. That doesn't require hundreds of pages of dense analysis.

The Morra can also be a good weapon up through the master ranks if you know its intricacies, and I can even see it as a decent practical try versus a grandmaster. Nevertheless, one has to wonder why the strongest grandmasters never employ it. Is it because the Morra isn't fully sound? That question isn't resolved, in my opinion, but it points to a basic problem. You'll find that proponents of the Morra often brag about White reaching equality. There's an excellent recent book 'Mayhem in the Morra!' by Marc Esserman about 3 c3, for example, with wonderful improvements in various lines, but at certain points we are supposed to be happy that Black will have to accede to equality and, as he once says, 'swallow his pride' in so doing. In fact, many writers about the Morra put a lot of effort into proving that White can work his way to an equal game against various promising Black setups. But that's an odd criterion for success: Yes, it's nice that the Morra can't be refuted, but how thrilling is it to know that White isn't in trouble after only his third move of a chess game? This reminds me of some advocates of irregular first moves for White who seem to think that equality is a stunning achievement. The real question is whether White can arrange his repertoire so that, whatever the precise theoretical verdict, there is a great deal of play in the position.

Anyway, let's follow some of Trent's presentation and see what we can learn from it. Apart from the fact that a DVD necessarily contains much less analysis than a book, it's worth noting that Trent's work precedes Esserman's by two years, which is a lifetime in the development of theory and thus puts him at a disadvantage.

Trent deals with very accurately with an early ...d6/...Nc6/...Nf6, a line that is often misanalysed:

I'd recommend the Morra especially to young and developing players, for whom this DVD should more than suffice as a resource. If you're going to succeed with it against more advanced opposition, a complete book is needed (Essermann's, or Hans Langrock's 2nd edition of Winning with the Morra).

Sampler: IM Lawrence Trent on the Smith Morra Gambit

• Order Lawrence Trent: The Smith-Morra Gambit

Lawrence Trent: born in 1986, is an international master, who has represented England in numerous international youth championships (including a 7th place in the U18 WCh in 2003). The Londoner, who has a degree in Romance languages, already has a lot of experience as a trainer. Trent has so far recorded two DVDs for ChessBase (the Two Knights Attack and the Morra Gambit). Trent also demonstrated his ability as a commentator on live chess at the London Chess Classic, where he commented on the games of Carlsen, Kramnik and Co. both for the public in the hall and on Playchess. You can find more of Lawrence Trent's training DVDs and 60 Minutes downloads here in the ChessBase Shop.

John Watson is an International Master from the United States. He has written over 25 books, including Secrets of Modern Strategy Chess Strategy in Action the four-volume Mastering the Chess Openings series this year's releases A Strategic Opening Repertoire for White Play the French, 4th edition