Smith-Morra Gambit Accepted, Pin Defense

The Pin Defense, also called the Pin Variation, is one of Black's main choices in the central tabiya of the accepted Smith-Morra Gambit, reached after 4. Nxc3 Nc6 5. Nf3 e6 6. Bc4. Instead of the waiting move 6...a6 or the queen move 6...Qc7, Black uses the diagonal opened by ...e6 to put the bishop on b4. The pin targets the knight that supports e4 and that White often uses for jumps to d5 or b5. It also prepares quick kingside castling. Black can consider ...Bxc3 at a suitable moment to damage White's queenside pawns, although that hands over the bishop pair.

White usually ignores the pin with 7. O-O, which is chosen in roughly three games out of four. That reply continues the standard Morra development and accepts the possible doubling of the c-pawns. 7. Bd2 breaks the pin directly but is a more modest setup. 7. Qe2 follows White's usual scheme of putting the queen on e2 and the rooks on the c- and d-files. Engines also rate 7. Bf4 highly. The engine assessment is roughly balanced with a faint preference for Black. In Lichess games the results are close to even, which fits the view that the extra pawn and White's activity offset each other.