What do you do against the Sicilian Defence? Do you play a mainline, safe
in the knowledge that despite being the most reliable way to gain an
opening advantage, you could be condemned to spending years studying a
huge body of opening theory, or do you choose an Anti-Sicilian, a way to
sidestep the mainlines at the risk of allowing Black to have a sneaking
chance to achieve equality? The Morra Gambit, characterised by the moves
1.e4 c5 2.d4 cxd4 3.c3 is one of the least played, yet according to IM
Trent most underrated Anti-Sicilians that White has at his disposal. By
sacrificing a pawn, White aims to rapidly develop his pieces with the
objective of delivering a swift knockout blow to the unprepared Black
camp. Objectively speaking, Trent emphasises, if Black knows his stuff he
has various ways to achieve a perfectly reasonable position. The beauty of
this opening, Trent explains, lies in its practical “over-theboard”
potential. Black players will have trouble coping with unknown positions
and being put on the back foot from the start. It should be of no surprise
that around 50% of players with Black decide to decline the gambit, but
even in this case Trent presents a host of tricky variations which allow
White to play with venom and great attacking possibilities, not to mention
a number of previously unseen theoretical novelties! Video runnig time: 5
h 25 min.
Lawrence Trent is an International Master from England.
He has represented England as a player and as a coach and has been a
3-time winner of the Porto San Giorgio International tournament, finishing
ahead of many Grandmasters.
System requirements:
Pentium-Processor at 300 Mhz or higher, 64 MB RAM, Windows 7, Windows XP,
Windows Vista, DVD drive, mouse, soundcard