I Tried to Refute the Smith Morra Gambit

In this video, I share my 9th and final round chess game from the Reykjavik Open against Vitaliy Garbuz (2155). The game featured a marathon battle emerging from the Smith Morra Gambit against the Sicilian Defense.
Reykjavik Open Recap Playlist: • 2023 Reykjavik Open
Analyze all my games: lichess.org/study/BDRlYtG8
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Eric Rosen
4579 Laclede Ave. # 205
St. Louis, MO 63108
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#chess #ericrosen

[@AdrianWan]

I generally find endgames mysterious as a casual watcher but I love how you explained the nuance so engagingly :) thanks Eric!

[@PallysalltheWay]

Will always be happy to see a recap series from you :) and thanks for not leaving us in suspense by not showing the standings!

[@billricardi]

Help, the nicest IM in chess is forcing me to watch this video! Please send an army of angry geese.

[@BlazeSLK]

Honk

[@christopherclubb9167]

Peace was never an option

[@51monw]

We only have angry ducks but I'm not sure he knows the difference.

[@B00B13S_L0L]

Is Goose from Top Gun ok

[@iseriver3982]

​@@51monw Duck gambit accepted🦆🦆🦆🦆🦩

[@Rubrickety]

That was an amazing endgame; well done! The skill of visualizing where you'd eventually like your pieces to be, then finding a plan to actually get them there, is utterly absent in lower-rated players such as myself. Kudos to your opponent, too, for playing so well under time pressure for so long.

[@vitalygarbuz6634]

Hehe thank you

[@joeyharrington1863]

The fact that your best attempt to refute the smith morra still created such a difficult position is great incentive for me to continue to play it! Also wow, what an endgame!

[@danielxu0]

Your endgame technique here was brilliant. Nice win Eric!!

[@MyBiPolarBearMax]

Masterclass in use of the bishop pair. Stronger but easy to blunder with if you dont think each move through.

[@jakub_p3352]

I watched that endgame live. Amazing technique. Summing up, I thought that you refused to believe that the endgame was a draw and ended up winning it... Congratz.

[@gradinarusebastian9424]

great instructive endgame, you make so many chess concepts seem really intuitive

[@ryanlind5239]

So instructive! The way you use your bishop as a shield so that you can escort the king beyond the vision of the rook is something I’m hoping to try to remember in future endgames!

[@cftpafan]

21:36 and d4 is hanging! 😁tired eric

[@E1337N3SS]

Great squeeze Eric! I think the ability to make a drawn endgame like that as painful as possible while staying composed is a great example of what separates titled players like you from a regular 2000+ rated player.

[@nacho__063]

Beautiful beautiful game eric! Loved that endgame plan and how you explained it. Love you too 😊

[@eporeon]

eric's killing it with all these sweaters

[@charliemanolakis8879]

Such a beautiful & instructive endgame. Grateful for all these recaps, and congrats on a nice tournament!

[@newyorkslim2001]

wow. 5 hours! longer than a baseball game. Lot of instructive tactical maneuvers explored. Thanks.

[@dswalkij3201]

Thank you eric! This is by far the most enjoyable endgame talk I have ever watched. I can follow your thoughts and understanding your difficulties in turning the game to a win! Great defence by your opponent,too! This kind of game seldom appears on blitz, so glad that you show this😊

[@usageunit]

25:00 Now there's a sign of a good arbiter! Proactive!

[@tuckerprice9663]

That was one of the most instructive endgames I’ve ever watched. It’s really helpful to hear you talk through your process of coming up with a plan to win the pawns.

[@AndrewWCarson]

Thanks for the great recaps! These were very entertaining to follow.

[@Salvatawr]

I absolutely adored these recaps. Thank you so much for these!

[@qawi272]

I love these tournament recaps. They are just the right mixture between relaxation and suspense. A Great pleasure to watch!

[@stuvius]

Incredible game. Loved the recaps and hope to see more of them!

[@morara8282]

"He took another really really long think,, i think he thought for over half hour"was my favorite part😂

[@Chimperly]

Love the recap series! thanks again!

[@collindruck4273]

I think I can speak for everyone and say that is a rad sweater

[@jaydub2971]

I sometimes see my Old Benoni transpose into a Smith-Morra. So, even though I'm not an e4 or Sicilian player, I found your explanation very instructive. Congrats, Eric.

[@nicoz4717]

This was the coolest endgame I have ever seen! And amazing instructive commentary alongside with it. Thanks Eric and congrats on the Top 51 finish!

[@seanhunter111]

Well played. What an incredibly tough fight. Really a great game.

[@postaldelivery6867]

What an awesome video! Last night, I too was looking at not only the smith Morra Gambit, but I was also watching Molton. That makes this game even more understandable and enjoyable to watch! Good stuff Eric

[@lucmedina]

28:24 Man, Alexandra looks really thrilled about playing against you

[@argothiel]

Beautiful! It looks like the most educative of your games in this tournament, what an ending!

[@Alexander-mw1ek]

Thank you for the beautiful game Eric! It’s easy to discount titled players abilities when we see y’all playing silly blitz games online, but OTB classical games like this show your true greatness. Highly technical win, I feel so thankful for videos like this because they really demonstrate the technique necessary for people like me (2200 lichess) to keep improving

[@number94]

Really enjoyed these, thanks for posting

[@longpie1689]

best chess content ever, thankyou eric

[@em4six348]

Has to be the best endgame analysis I've ever seen on KZbin. Great work Eric!

[@FMEEvangelist]

Definitely a well-thought (and well-fought) match there. Well done on the win.

[@gilber78]

This was quite an endgame!! A good study on recognizing imbalances and how to create the best position possible

[@ligmamale4389]

Thank you for the detailed endgame analysis!

[@santinosartoris]

Super instructive and fun watch. Nice game

[@chandlerrogers7300]

These recaps are fantastic keep up the good work.

[@martinhadleigh5890]

Superb play there Eric.

[@ericswanson8081]

Man that sweater is dope! Great job at the tournament and thanks for the recaps (and all the content)

[@GStarGoku3]

That handshake photo at the end is too funny

[@domonikoldham7387]

excellent work in the tournament eric great work

[@rockman7652]

картофелем и грибами

[@madshaolin]

Great win Eric in a very well-fought game.

[@pablolacruz2652]

Very instructive game, thanks.

[@bkokohut1980]

ABOUT TIME YOU POSTED THIS VIDEO!!!

[@randikalakmal]

"Trying is the first step to failure" - GM Ben Finegold

[@KailamiMwiinga]

Not trying anything is the main step to failure 😂

[@kamalakantanieves5371]

Great game! Thanks so much.

[@uwufemboy5683]

Good endgames are so incredible to see, this game was awesome to watch!

[@michaelcarney5456]

Thank you so much for thinking out loud.. very helpful to those perhaps like me, still hoping to achieve an Expert rating after decades of play.

[@philkersonchong9848]

At 8:55, I think engine prefers Rf8 instead of Re8 because it doesn’t want to trade rooks in the open file so when light bishop moves, the rook can take the knight.

[@Edmond1702]

Exactly! 👍

[@tim90003]

25:20 good to hear the paper was saved

[@TheMg49]

Nice game. Thanks and thumbs up.

[@brasileirosim5961]

Great video, thanks!

[@manykindsofgeek5906]

Hard fought victory and beautiful game!

[@dennismays5692]

Beautiful endgame. Congratulations!

[@MrRichi251]

Hey Eric, was not able to watch these recaps right away but watched them all today and it was really cool to see your games and follow along with your Journey through the tournament. I was thinking at 10:37 above maybe white could even just play Nxf6+ then Rb1. I know it was just a sideline you were showing but just something I saw might make that line even less appealing

[@charlesfromm6133]

Great recap! I've actually faced this Nb5 line in a tournament game also, and, unlike you, just meekly castled instead of going for it with d5. After analyzing a bit, I've realized that Rf8 is better than Re8 for a very simple reason. After Rf8 the white bishop is more or less trapped on c7: white can't really stop the plan of f4, Bf5 and taking the knight. However after Re8 Re1 Kf7 Bd6 white can untangle the pieces. Another quirk of this line is that after Bg3 both dxc4 and dxe4 give a slight edge to black, though as you demonstrated these are extremely murky waters, and you can hardly call -0.3 with a chaotic position a refutaion.

[@wascourge9817]

3:18 Giri also has this in his Dragon course

[@ianmoore5502]

Outstanding finish, Eric 👏

[@LFSPharaoh]

I also saw moltens video from a few years ago that’s so cool. I quickly realized I had no business playing it lol

[@hildebrand142]

nice sweater! thanks for your videos.

[@edward-jacobholt8795]

This is such a fascinating game

[@MusicPlaylistsChannel]

Was just checking for a new vid

[@robbieg8883]

As a Smith morra player that line where they trade the bishop off is my least favourite thing

[@GooseFN_]

Tough game, your opponent played well ! But you manage to earn the win ❤️👍

[@kingberzerk]

Bb4 was my guess reading the title before I watched this video. I learned it from Giri's course.

[@diggitus]

Hi Eric, I'm curious what you planned on 9.exd5

[@willmorrisusa]

U pulled it out ! Good for U ! " Ohhh, My Rook " ! " Ohhh, My Pawn " ! 😂

[@AG-kl6ds]

At 9:57 eric says he thought the knight couldn’t escape. Can opponent not simply play NC7+ and just escape?

[@rudellius]

This allows for white to take the pawn on b2 with the bishop while gaining a tempo by attacking the rook which is then followed by c3 protecting both the bishop and the pawn. Other variations include black getting another passed pawn on the a or b file. White would have to give up either their rook or knight to stop them from promoting. Rook to c1 lets black take the pawn but white can then just take the pawn c4.

[@tbbt8337]

@@rudellius yes but he forgot to tell that,while telling much simpler variations -)

[@tbbt8337]

and he tells aboute the fork next move like it WASNT THERE BEFORE,CONFUSING,BUT HE IS PRBABLY TIERD......

[@2healthy267]

That endgame technique was crazy. As a lower rated player you understand quickly the gap between a casual and a titled player.

[@neo85ish]

Cool game, kudos

[@Dying4pie2180]

Can't wait to see you get to GM I can see it happening.

[@Heroball299]

Shout out to that Molton Li guy. He has a really underrated channel, not many subscribers but he plays speedrun games as well as other good chess content. It's worth checking out.

[@smokebonde9943]

I always play the Chicago Defense against Smith Morra. It's a really interesting refutation against the Smith Morra.

[@ali24B]

Great job!

[@rumpelRAINS]

Wait till Marc hears about this

[@cftpafan]

Banned

[@KironKabir]

Hello mockers

[@Lyscian420]

I’m so conflicted, I want Eric to win, but I also don’t want the morra to lose!! Hahaha great video and great game !

[@leobosi]

"I was trying to avoid mass simplifications". Proceeds to perform mass simplifications :P

[@PaulGoldstein]

love the recaps but wish they would land in youtube in more timely fashion. Was following you in tournament but videos landing 5 days after the games are getting played even though i think you are recording them shortly after the game. why the lag?

[@Harrow_the_Ninth]

Shankland covers this line in his Classical Sicilian course, if anybody's interested.

[@xxNarcissus]

21:34 oh no my Bishop

[@noahsolomon538]

I'm a die hard morra fan and truly belive the morra is objectively sound, but I gotta admit you played this really well. Good job!

[@robertcooper1952]

A well-deserved victory!

[@sheikmanzoor5003]

Wow the explanation is so good. It makes learning such endgames fun. Kudo to Eric for the win.🔥

[@perhultman-boye2858]

Amazing endgame technique!

[@ThisSentenceIsFalse]

Amazing that opponent had to make all their moves under two minutes.

[@kriswaelput]

Congrats !!

[@Astrobay13]

At 27:40 Eric forgot to blur the screen and it shows his full name :o

[@odinnhrafnsson6267]

Hey Eric, love the sweater.

[@ram42193]

Molten is awesome 😎!

[@bdpv025]

What a game

[@streeeetz6059]

Morra sound opening ... noted

[@khmerartist6581]

Nice job sir!

[@ttjciluk]

I reckon you played well against the SM gambit. It is a labyrinth of a game, but clearly your tact was worth the win.

[@davidnelson4960]

Congrats Mr. Rosen. Flying the world, being an IM, what a life.

[@satoxzero8975]

Interesting game different than usual.

[@hugopascal9332]

what an endgame! crazy

[@jeromilittle]

Eric, Prince of Egypt.