Elijah Logozar (photo courtesy of subject) "Mop Up the Morra"

[pgn] [Event "?"] [Site "?"] [Date "2019.07.30"] [Round "?"] [White "Smith-Morra"] [Black "Logozar's refutation"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "B21"] [Annotator "Logozar, Elijah"] [PlyCount "26"] [EventDate "2019.07.16"] {The analysis in my Chessable course "Mop up the Morra!" goes a lot deeper than the summary, but this should be enough to show the main idea behind the refutation.} 1. e4 c5 2. d4 cxd4 3. c3 $6 dxc3 4. Nxc3 Nc6 5. Nf3 e6 6. Bc4 ({ Black is also better after Stockfish's alternative} 6. Bf4 {which is also analyzed in my course. Critical is} a6 7. e5 f5) 6... Nge7 7. Bg5 ({Despite dismissal by Esserman and theory,} 7. O-O {is a critical line.} Ng6 (7... a6 $6 8. Bg5 {sidesteps the critical 7.Bg5 h6! line, transposing back into theory.}) 8. Nb5 {Black must either go for the complications after 8...d6 or allow White to win the bishop pair with Nd6+. I prefer the complications because Black giving up the bishop pair would allow White to fight for compensation.} d6 9. Bg5 Qd7 $15 {I deeply analyze these complications in my Chessable course (up to move 22 in one of the lines) and have concluded that Black is better if he plays correctly.}) 7... h6 $1 $146 {I discovered the value of this novelty when studying Esserman's book because he stopped after 8.Nb5 d5 and I didn't like how he stopped in a complex position without giving analysis so I decided to analyze with the engine.} (7... f6 8. Be3 {is the mainline. The weakening of the a2-g8 diagonal allows White to obtain compensation for the sacrificed pawn. This weakness can be exploited by either the standard Nd4 with f4-f5 or in some cases the Nd5 sacrifice.}) 8. Nb5 {Esserman's suggestion and the only possible punishment of 7...h6. Theory likely hasn't noticed 7...h6 yet because Stockfish initially thinks that the complications after 8.Nb5 favor White. After guidance, it changes it's mind and decides that Black has the advantage. This was tested in 45 endgame games (Stockfish vs. itself) and Black won or drew every game.} (8. Bh4 g5 9. Bg3 a6 {White doesn’t have sufficient compensation for the sacrificed pawn due to his lack of pawn levers or targets. Black can easily develop (…Bg7, ...Ng6, …b5 with …Bb7, …Rc8, …Nce5) and in many lines Black will fight for the initiative with a kingside pawn storm. Esserman admits that Black is better here.}) (8. Be3 Ng6 $17 {White is unable to interfere with Black's setup and due to the delayal of ...a6, Black doesn't have to worry about Na4-b6. This buys him time to quickly castle kingside and can later play ...a6 and ...b5 without worrying about the Nd5 sacrifice. Esserman admits that Black is better here.}) 8... d5 9. exd5 { The following complications favor Black.} hxg5 10. dxc6 (10. dxe6 $5 {leads to interesting complications that favor Black.} Bxe6 11. Nd6+ Qxd6 12. Qxd6 Rd8 13. Qc5 Nf5 14. Bxe6 (14. Qb5 Bb4+ 15. Kf1 Nd6 16. Qxg5 Bxc4+ 17. Kg1 O-O $19 { Black has a decisive initiative.}) 14... Bxc5 15. Bxf5 $15 {Black has a better endgame due to his superior piece activity.}) 10... Nxc6 11. Qxd8+ Kxd8 12. O-O-O+ (12. Rd1+ $5 {is an alternative which I cover in high detail in my Chessable course.} Bd7 {is preferable over ...Ke7 because there isn't concrete tactics down the c-file if the White king isn't on c1. The concrete differences are deeply covered in the Chessable course "Mop up the Morra!". The drawback of 12.Rd1+ over 12.0-0-0+ is thatI White isn't as well developed (Rhe1 won't be played until White castles). My main line runs:} 13. O-O Be7 14. Nd6 Bxd6 15. Rxd6 Ke7 16. Rfd1 Be8 17. Nxg5 Rh4 18. b3 e5 $15 {where Black has the advantage due to his superior king activity and d4-outpost. There might be an improvement for Black on the way (Stockfish seems to think there are several ways for Black to get an advantage after 12...Bd7), but this is what I concluded was best.}) (12. Nxg5 $6 Bb4+ $17 {followed by ...Ke7 allows Black to keep his static advantages and obtain the initiative.}) 12... Ke7 13. Nxg5 g6 $15 {Black intends ...Bg7 with ...a6 and ...b5 with ...Nd4. Black has a static advantage due to his king activity, bishop pair, and d4-outpost. I challenge readers to try to prove that White can equalize from this position or to find earlier improvements for White after 4.Nxc3.} 0-1 [/pgn]