Morra mania
If you play the Sicilian against me at blitz, I will play the Morra.
I know it is rubbish, but that is part of its attraction. If I lose, I can put it down to the opening; and if I win, it sometimes can be in fine style, or at least in attacking style.
It is especially nice to play the Morra vs Grandmasters, most of whom feel honour obliged to capture. This week, I have beaten one, whose real name I don’t know, twice, in the same line.
This is the position after the standard sacrifice, Nc3-d5. It was played by Marc Esserman, whose book Mayhem on the Morra I love, against Loek van Wely, whom he beat in swashbuckling style, at classical time limits.
Last week, my opponent blundered:
Today, he captured the piece, and an exciting game resulted. I didn’t play the best line, missing his queen side castling resource. He too missed the one and only defence; when I later looked at Esserman, I found he gives this defence. But it is a very narrow path indeed: however, on reflection, it is a logical one: black tries to counterattack hitting g2 with the Bb7-Qc6 battery. Prior to Houdini suggesting it, I would never have thought of it, instead, most likely, playing on the black squares, like my opponent did.
Of course, it is only blitz, and so trivial and unimportant, but it is still nice to beat a GM. The second time it will be time to give up chess is when beating a GM is no longer fun (the first time, as in my earlier blog, is when seeing a smothered mate doesn’t make you smile).
This should take you to an online playable copy of the game.
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allanbeardsworth 