Originally posted by woodworm
[pgn][Event "Clan challenge"]
[Site "http://www.chessatwork.com"]
[Date "2003.10.21"]
[EndDate "2003.11.21"]
[Round "?"]
[White "woodworm"]
[Black "mambley"]
[WhiteRating "2306"]
[BlackRating "1286"]
[WhiteELO "2306"]
[BlackELO "1286"]
[Result "1-0"]
[GameId "304655"]
1. e4 c5 2. d4 cxd4 3. c3 dxc3 4. Nb1xc3 e5 5. Ng1f3 Nb8c6 6. Bf1c4 Bf8b4
...[text shortened]... e) [b]15.Qf3 Nh6 16.Qf6 Qxe5 17.Qxe5+ Kf7 18.Qe7+ Kg8 19.Qf8 mate.[/b]
I suppose the Morra can be thought of as a romantic or idealistic opening, which means that White sacrifices material in order to a) develop quickly & control the centre and b) attack Black's weakest square; f7.
An early ...e5 means that, instead of being protected by ...e6, the f7 square is now vulnerable, especially after White plays Bc4 & possibly Qb3, Qd5 or sometimes the more obvious looking Ng5.
Playing the move so soon leaves Black's kingside woefully behind in development.
After 1.e4 c5 2.d4 cxd4 3.c3 dxc3 4.Nxc3 e5? 5.Nf3 Nc6 6.Bc4 it's easy for Black to simply throw the game away
6...Nf6? and White has 7.Ng5 d5 8.Nxd5 Nxd5 9.Bxd5
6...Be7? 7.Qd5! is simply too good.
6...Bc5? 7.Bxf7+! Kxf7 8.Qd5+ Ke8 9.Qxc5 & it's almost time for a pint.
6...h6? is often played, preventing the Ng5 threat but allowing the move 7.Qb3! which virtually wins on the spot. Here's a game that demonstrates the mess Black gets into after the early ...e5 error:
[Event "May 2008 Mini Banded Duel II 1600-1650"] [Site "http://www.playtheimmortalgame.com"] [Date "2008.05.14"] [EndDate "2008.05.23"] [Round "1"] [White "Squelchbelch"] [Black "machine54"] [WhiteRating "1741"] [BlackRating "1807"] [WhiteELO "1741"] [BlackELO "1807"] [Result "1-0"] [GameId "4991453"] 1. e4 c5 2. d4 cxd4 3. c3 dxc3 4. Nb1xc3 e5 5. Ng1f3 Nb8c6 6. Bf1c4 h6 7. Qd1b3 Bf8b4 8. Bc4xf7 Ke8f8 9. Bf7h5 Qd8e7 10. O-O Bb4xc3 11. bxc3 Ng8f6 12. Bc1a3 d6 13. Ba3xd6 Nf6xh5 14. Bd6xe7 Kf8xe7 15. Nf3h4 Ke7f6 16. Ra1d1 Rh8d8 17. Rd1xd8 Nc6xd8 18. Qb3d1 Kf6e7 19. Qd1xh5 Bc8e6 20. Qh5xe5 Ke7f8 21. Rf1d1 Nd8f7 22. Qe5xe6 1-0