Marshall Attack

Having castled with 7...O-O rather than playing 7...d6, Black meets 8. c3 with 8...d5. This counterstrike hits e4 and offers a pawn. White nearly always accepts with 9. exd5. After 9...Nxd5 10. Nxe5 Nxe5 11. Rxe5, White has an extra pawn, but Black is ahead in development and White's kingside has lost its defenders. The pawn on c3 also now blocks the queen's knight. Frank Marshall prepared the line for José Raúl Capablanca in 1918, but Capablanca survived the complications and won. Later exponents include Boris Spassky, John Nunn, Michael Adams and Levon Aronian, and Peter Leko used it to beat Vladimir Kramnik in their 2004 title match.

Modern practice centers on 11...c6. The Main Line continues 12. d4 Bd6 13. Re1 Qh4 14. g3 Qh3, while 12. Bxd5 cxd5 13. d4 Bd6 14. Re3 is the Re3 Variation. Marshall's original 11...Nf6 and the alternative 11...Bb7 remain playable. Black can also deviate earlier with 9...e4, the Steiner Variation, and White can decline the pawn with 9. d4. Analysis extends beyond move 30 without settling whether the gambit is sound. Its many forcing routes to equality or perpetual check have made it a drawing weapon, and players such as Garry Kasparov avoid it with Anti-Marshall systems. Engines rate the position as roughly balanced, and Black scores well online.