Benoni Defense

@tpr I believe that white does not have any advantage in this line and the fish agrees. But i was also not able to find one for black in an analysis session. The Bg5, Nd2, Qf3-g3, f4 idea gives White good counterplay and in order to neutralize it, black must repair whites pawn structure with Nd7-c5xd3 (In your line given in #17 you can improve whites play with 9.Bxf6 +=, thats why black should not hunt the c3 pawn with Qc7xc3):



However – so far – in practice white scores bad in this variation – 44% elo difference +-100 after 6..Bb4 (5% better in the critical lines of the Morra gambit). This is probably because the white players are not prepared for it.

Btw, Morra gambit is more dangerous than ever before. There are extremely critical lines which have been found by the computers including long-term sacrifices. A friend of mine (CM) wins sometimes against GMs tournament games...

Yet another shocker:
1.d4 c5 2.d5 f5!?

#21 I agree, but as said above white can also play 5 Bc4 to prevent 5...Bb4. Example:


#22 Black should only accept the Smith-Morra gambit if he is well prepared. Black can decline with 3...d5 or 3...Nf6, which leads to an Alapin variation. That also promises white a small advantage, but is less risky for black.

Another good possibility for black is



After which white has the bishops but they are not worth much in this half closed structure, while black has great piece play. A typical just-play-it Najdorf position for black where he risks nothing.

@tpr #23, sorry, didnt see your post, before posting #24, that is indeed an interesting move. Black can try to play Nf6 before e5 which results in a bunch of other interesting variations, eg. white can still play Bc4 or he can play Bd3. Seems that black has good play in these lines.

@Sarg0n #22 i have analyzed this Morra line quite a bit, i dont like whites position very much (the black idea is Nge7-g6 to control e5, on Bg5 he does not fear to play h6 and on Bh4 g5):



1.d4 c5 2.d5 f5!? that looks good for a blitz game but not for a serious game. White is clearly better in my opinion.

Several grandmasters have played 1 d4 c5 2 d5 f5 in serious games e.g.

#25, wanna try this line against my friend? He beats constantly much better players with it, here's a win against a GM in a tournament game.

Best thing about Morra gambit is that all the people think it is refuted - like this GM, he became the Moron.



I usually play Alapin against Morra.

It is easy to go wrong with black. 14...Nxe5? was enough to lose.
The Alapin is also much better than most people think. Svechnikov even says 2 c3! is right and 2 Nf3 3 d4? are wrong.

@Sarg0n #27 i do not say it is refuted, if both sides play perfect it will be a draw. But it is white who has to work harder to reach the draw, in my opinion.

Yes, Nd5 is a common motif in that line and black has to take care of it, but when you have analyzed that motif a bit you will be comfortable in the resulting positions with black.

I have also tried 8...f6 but have switched to 8..h6 followed by 9.Be3 b5, then Bb7 and sometimes even Na5, before moving the Ne7. This throws an eye on the critical square d5 and after completing development black has the idea Nc4-b6, preparing d7-d5. If you enter this into the fish you will see that white is slightly worse.

@tpr #28 I also have my lines with black in the Alapin and feel comfortable with them. It is definitely playable for white but i still prefer 2.Nf3 and 3.d4 against the Sicilian when playing white.

@impruuve Here is a game with your line

Yes Stockfish gives a slight advantage for black, but that is mainly because the compensation lies behind its horizon of 18 ply.
Objectively it may be equal.
Nevertheless, black can make mistakes easier.