Openings · B21

Sicilian, Smith–Morra Gambit

A pawn for the c- and d-files, offered on move two — the most direct way to make a Sicilian player think for themselves.

1.e4 c5 2.d4played as White

Play it through on the board below.

Practise the line

You play White; the other side answers on its own. Nothing here is saved or graded.

8
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a1
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Your move 1 of 20/2
  1. 1.e4c5
  2. 2.d4

Your move. Drag a piece, or tap it and then its square.

The idea

After 2…cxd4 3.c3 dxc3 4.Nxc3 White has one pawn fewer and every piece coming to a natural square: bishop to c4 pointing at f7, rooks to c1 and d1 on two open files, and a knight coming to d5 or b5 the moment Black relaxes. Black's extra pawn is on the queenside and takes a long time to mean anything.

The gambit is not sound the way a Ruy López is sound, and it does not have to be. It costs a pawn and produces positions where the player who understands them wins, and at club level that player is usually the one who chose the opening.

Common mistakes

Three that come up again and again below master level: named traps and the errors every coach corrects.

The Siberian Trap

After 8…Ng4
  1. 1.
  2. 2.
  3. 3.
  4. 4.
  5. 5.
  6. 6.
  7. 7.
  8. 8.
The mistake
Developing the queen to e2 with the black queen already on c7.
Why it costs
8…Ng4 threatens mate on h2, and the natural defence is the losing one: 9.h3? Nd4 attacks the queen, and every retreat drops material to …Nxe2 or allows the mate. With 9.Rd1, giving the king f1, the engine rates the position about level, so it is the reflex h3 that loses. It is the best-known trap in the whole gambit and it catches White, not Black.
Instead
8.h3 first, or 8.Bb3 and Qe2 later. With a queen on c7 and a knight able to reach g4, h2 has to be covered before the queen leaves d1.

Winning the pawn back

After 6.Nb5
  1. 1.
  2. 2.
  3. 3.
  4. 4.
  5. 5.
  6. 6.
The mistake
Spending moves recovering material instead of using the lead in development.
Why it costs
A pawn on the queenside is not what was bought. What was bought is three tempi and two open files, and they are spent the moment the pieces start chasing pawns rather than squares.
Instead
Bc4, O-O, Qe2, Rd1 and Rc1 — the whole set-up, every game, before anything else. The pawn comes back on its own in most lines, or it does not and the pressure pays for it.

The decline nobody prepares for

After 5…Nc6
  1. 1.
  2. 2.
  3. 3.
  4. 4.
  5. 5.
The mistake
Assuming the pawn will be taken.
Why it costs
3…d5 hands it straight back and leaves White with an isolated d-pawn and none of the open-file pressure the gambit is played for. Most prepared opponents do this, so it is the position that decides whether you can play the Morra at all.
Instead
Know it as an isolated-queen's-pawn game: 5.cxd4 Nc6 6.Nf3 Bg4 7.Be2 and play for d5 and the kingside, rather than hoping for the gambit proper.

In real games between beginners

  • 1 in 58games end with White giving checkmate by move 15. In all openings: 1 in 33.
  • 1 in 100games end with White getting checkmated by move 15. In all openings: 1 in 54.

From 2,421 Lichess games in this opening between players rated under 1200, blitz and slower, September 2026. How we counted.

What the engine says

After 1.e4 c5 2.d4, these are Black's six best moves according to Stockfish, with the bar showing Black's chance of winning.

  1. cxd4+0.2
  2. e6+0.6
  3. g6+0.8
  4. d5+0.9
  5. Qc7+0.9
  6. d6+1.0

The engine's main line from cxd4: cxd4 Nf3 e5 c3 Nc6 cxd4 exd4 Nxd4.

Stockfish 18, depth 24. Scores are in pawns from White's side. Another engine or depth will move individual numbers a little; the picture does not change. How we check.

Where it fits

The Sicilian, Smith–Morra Gambit is a variation of the Sicilian Defence, whose page covers the ideas this one takes for granted.

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