Learn the Smith Morra Gambit with Hikaru 

Hikarus "Welcome back!" versus Gotham's deadly stare...

Wow hikaru I'm convinced you literally read my mind by releasing this video, because after watching the match between you and fabi I got motivated to play the smith mora and I started analyzing the games and studying the smith morra. Thanks hikaru 😅

I'm glad to be living in this day and age, when one can get daily coaching from a 2800 rated super GM. Hikaru is the people's champ!

Brutally honest feedback on opening with e4 and gambits. I really appreciate it Hikaru!

I think it's all the way to 2000 or perhaps beyond with simply tactics / opening understanding. At my rating around 1700 - it's very rare for there not to be a game ending tactic in the first 20-30 moves, but damn can they sometimes be hard to spot and verify in seconds like you can.

That "Welcome back everyone" makes my day every time!! LOL

yeahhhh, just read Marc Esserman's book on this opening. A lot more fun to be had

Hahahah Hikaru is such a troll. “It won’t be the kind of game that goes in the books and lasts forever, unless it gets put on my RU-vid channel!” *evil smile*

hikaru's energy on the opening is very addicting.

Hikaru, I watched you play the Smith Morra against Fabiano and immediately started researching it! Thank you so much for making this video!

Favorite opening by far! Learned from Marc Esserman. Thank you Hikaru!

i play smith morra all the time, because of all the opportunities it opens. Esserman has a nice book on it. So nice to see it played at top levels.

The emphasis on “saaack” instead of “the rooook” was just the content we needed. Somebody needs to do a video loop of levy and hikaru saying, “sack(ed) the rook” back and forth to each other and it would be gold.

¡Gracias por la lección Gran Maestro!

This is probably the best instructive chess video on RU-vid under 20 mins! All hail the king Hikaru!!

Best Hikaru video I’ve ever seen

Be honest, was Marc Esserman the actual major inspiration to play the Smith Morra? Who showed you Qb3 in the dragon setup? Thanks for that, now let's move on...

It's great to see you giving credibility again to this amazing opening!

Please teach the Scandinavian Defense!

More of these opening vids

If I’m below 2000 but aspiring to be above it I don’t think it’s unreasonable to play 1.d4. I get great positions against unprepared opponents and just feel more confident playing d4.

BANNED and MOCKED yam yam yam

Just to be clear, 1st game move 11 by Ghandeevam2003 is a howler blunder, +- 3. Correct was Qe7. Nevertheless, you show what a weapon the Smith-Morra Gambit is. Love your stuff!

Hikaru 's fake smile for intro of his video is permanent

I recall a funny comment by Bent Larsen on the Smith-Morra. He was playing in a tournament in San Antonio where Ken Smith was also playing. He commented on a game where Smith played 1. e4 and his opponent played a French Defense. Larsen annotated Black's 1...e6 with a ?, saying 1...c5! wins by force since Smith always plays his gambit and lost every game playing it.

Let me write "Guess my comment" to seem coool🗿

as a dragon player, i hate facing the smith morra as i literally cant play the same thing anymore

played the default smith morra gambit and found out its a real opening so i came here. crushed him ofc

You inspired me to play chess and enjoy the game

OMG that entry quote spoke to me. I've played Queen's gambit all my life and cannot break that barrier over 18/1900. Ty Ty Ty Ty 🤠

Only here for the: WELCOME BACK

I kindly request you cover the Scandinavian opening. You briefly covered it in Legendary Openings but then the opponent surrendered within 5 minutes.

I was looking forward to this particular GMHikaru take on the Smith-Morra because one can almost say that Hikaru's treatment/interpretation of playing it is relatively new to me. The viewer should know that in none of these games Black played the recommended defenses to the Smith-Morra but that's part of the charm of choosing an opening like this that puts pressure on the opponent to remember and spend time on the line and the Smith-Morra is actually a fairly safe gambit for hite to play... AFAIK White always achieves good positions and pressure even if Black plays accurately although in the end with all gambits if Black can withstand the assault without having to return the material, White is likely playing the rest of the game at a disadvantage... But at the GM level I doubt that a pawn deficit in the opening and middlegame likely means a loss in the endgame.

Hikaru adopting the levy stare at the start, brilliant

Hikaru should bring this content back.

Listened to the first game over 10 times today. Still working still grinding still learning the board.

"Welcome back..." thank you Mr Hikura

I love the Smith-Morra gambit

Thank you, this is my favorite of your guides so far.

Good gambit, but in blitz and rapid i usually play d3 in reply, and its pretty comfortable sicilian defence for black

man i love the smith morra gambit, first opening i learned. now they all gonna learn it and how to defend it, i think i have to find something different thats not often played ^^

I love the way it was explained ,simple and quick,. Easy to understand,.

Epic opening monolog

Awesome. I play the Smith Morra myself! Big fan, at 1500. It's a bit funny that Hikaru has often played the rather tame d3 push decline variation. Not sure that's still his preferred line after studying it.

I feel like someone told Hikaru to be more energetic at the start of the video for viewer retention or something, so thats why he forces that awkward "HELLO, and welcome BACK EVERYONEEEEE" at the start of each educational video/recap😂😂

Call me Tactics Tactics Tactics from now on

hikaru gives u motivation before every opening xD

What a brain you have Memorizing all violence lines in smith mora

He taught us how to beat erigaisi if he plays the sicillian

Perfect, I was just studying the Sicilian and needed some example games

Little bro thinks he’s Marc Esserman

I like 1.f4 because as a below 2000 it has teached me to ignore kings safety and always sac if possible 🤣 also I am pretty close to 2000 so maybe I should start playing a normal opening. My friends always tell me to stop playing f4 and play something "normal" Also below 2000 you should be playing for fun thats why I play f4 really aggressive

Smith Morra is OP

So I wonder, on other videos, when Hikaru looks up left, and sees the board from one side, then turns the right looking up at the reverse position.

9:30 absolutely!!

Deez knights are jumpy 😂 17:08

Please, don’t ever change how you say “Today’s episode”. 😂

You’re the goat Hikaru! You can still see the love of the game in your content

😂😂😂Amazing intro!!

This is what I started playing against the Sicilian

Hey Hikaru I am 1800 and want to learn the Nimzo. If you made a video on it that'd be dope. That's all

Once a legend said "Welcome back everyone"

I played this gambit without knowing and i was winning pretty much and my opponent resigned

I accedantly played it and felt embarassed for not knowing it, thx hikaru

hikaru talk different from what I remember

"Being a pawn down you will have to dig into each position." I don't really agree that you're digging down, in this video Hikura is keeping the tempo, not digging. Running on water.

You’re so entertaining, mad respect for letting levy win the streamer award 💀

A while ago you had a tutorial video on the danish gambit. And it felt more beginner friendly than this

Hikaru always chews on his words in the intro

I always feel a sense of ineluctable doom when they play the Smith-Morra against me. I hate it!

As Hikaru starts with quoting Smith, one should add for completeness that he wasn't very successful with it

We need the Scandinavian video

Smith Morra step by step: 1. e4 c5 2. d4 cxd4 3. c3 ??? 4. Be 2775 and win the game

why does hikaru always look like he's in pain when he's talking

this stare at the beginning of the video HAHA

Hi from Italy thanks for such a lesson. If I may I pose you a personal question, why at 12:35 do you count in spanish? Generally a person counts in his first language. Me, for example, with a strong accent of my youth northern Italy dialect. All the best to you and your family.

double awp combo lmao

😀I watch and highly recommend GMHikaru content for its consistent high quality. Yet. I'd laugh and probably wouldn't agree that anyone below 1900 has to play e4 all the time and take their lumps to improve. IMO that's exactly right if you want to develop or already find yourself playing in a highly tactical attacking style like Hikaru but IMO there are as many ways to play chess as there are individual humans. I myself self-schooled myself on the technical aspects of playing positional defense before adding tactics to my personal style. I studied games by players like Botvinnik, Petrosian and Smyslov with the idea that tactics are born organically out of a position that was prepared and only when the ground was properly cultivated tactics would finish off my opponents, and that got me up to Expert class (UCSF). IMO practically anyone else can tread the same path I did and also approach a UCSF Master rating. But of course, becoming really good at chess requires a well rounded style. No matter what your personal bias might be, higher class play requires a good balance of both tactics and strategical play although it's anyone's guess what the right mix might be. I am mightily impressed that Hikaru can exemplify chess played mostly based on tactics and relatively few games that involve long, slow maneuvering. Even long Hikaru games are usually a succession of tactical constructions rather tha an effort to strangle. I speculate that might be because of the impact of computers on play today that positional advantages are achieved by relatively few tactical sequences and computers may not yet be capable of playing positionally as well. And it helps that brute force calculation of about 9 plies(half moves) are frequently sufficient to conquer most opponents.

Bf4 mora (hikaru variation )

This explains the gambit well. I am amazed how un developed black pieces are. Hmm, I won't be too quick to take the free pawn, but.., it makes me wonder, what way the game plays if I decline the gambit?

The best part was Uno, dos tres, cuatro, cinco, seis pieces 😅

Hikaru's fake smile is the best smile ever!

Hikaru is Literally the best Aaand… he literally does not care.

Thank u for the video! You are the best

I can't believe Hikaru dumped the hiphopohthala LALAmoose for the Smith Morra. He seems happier though, so...🤣

GOOD CHESS QUOTES MY MAN

I like the quote,it's like my life 's quote 😀

When are you gonna play against the new bots?

Learn the reti with hikaru please

Ooh a new weapon against the Sicilian. I can finally move away from Levy's grand Prix attack 😅

5:33 hahaha

Marc, you have made it. The Smith Morra has arrived in the mainstream

The intro tho-

My fellow 900ELO players, Here i come with Smith Morra

I knew this video was coming! 😍

Bro he just called Hikaru daddy for the pin

"These Knights " ❤

Thank you hikaru you made my day😊

Bro bro chill, i dunno if he's rappin or educatin me

look at Hikaru beating kids 😂😂