Mayhem in the Morra

by Marc Esserman

Chess players are offered a complete fighting repertoire for White against the Sicilian with 1.e4 c5 2.d4 cxd4 3.c3. The Morra Gambit is a popular weapon at club level, but can it be effective at grandmaster level? Marc Esserman believes so and he has 2700-rated scalps to back up his view. Esserman is the world’s leading expert on the Morra Gambit and he shares all his secrets and many novelties in a lively witty style. The Morra leads to exciting gambit play, so some players decline the offer with 3...Nf6 – Esserman also shows how White can attack this cautious defense. Don’t be afraid of the Sicilian – unleash Mayhem in the Morra!

Genres: Chess, Nonfiction, Reference

360 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 2012

Reviews

[Salluste · Rating 5 out of 5]

Much more than an opening book, each page contains tactical fireworks and is written in entertaining style.

[Marian · Rating 3 out of 5]

das erste schachbuch, was ich durchgearbeitet habe. leider sind die varianten sehr schlecht gealtert. und tbh waren die analysen damals auch schon sehr ambivalent: sehr viele sehr interessante varianten und ideen, allerdings wird teilweise zu früh abgebrochen und die stellung mit einem unklar symbol abgefertigt oder kritische varianten werden ganz ignoriert. dafür massenhaft (wenn auch hübsche) irrelevante computervarianten und varianten, die bis zum matt gezeigt werden.
trotzdem 3 sterne, weil das buch unterhaltsam ist und sich relativ viel trotzdem nutzen lässt, aber morra kann man damit heute leider nicht mehr vernünftig spielen :/

[Alexander · Rating 3 out of 5]

ngl the paper notation is hard to get used to and I keep having to open a chessboard to play the sequences out but that's js a skill issue. surprising amount of depth but most of the positions unfortunately are not going to get reached...

[Sreya · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the greatest chess books on a single opening – a piece of art that takes you on an adventure while teaching you to play beautiful chess, believe in yourself, creating art and going on adventures simultaneously.
The introduction itself is a literature worthy of a great author. And the chess has never been more enjoyable.
The Morra Gambit (often, erroneously called Smith-Morra, since Ken Smith didn’t do this exciting opening any justice) will surely be renamed the Esserman-Morra or simply, the Esserman Gambit in the foreseeable future.

P.S. This book will have multiple “Read” dates, as I promise you, there are secrets within secrets, and I am no master.

[Alexander Fontana · Rating 5 out of 5]

NOW this is how you write a chess book!

Like a fine martini, you'll be shaken, not just merely stirred. Entertaining, precise, and without the normal reams of fluff. Esserman cuts through the crap, providing a rapier style of sharp lines of romantic style chess play.

In short, this one is a keeper.

[Lucas Ward · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm not really into giving 5 stars for chess books, but this one deserves it. The morra is such a provocative opening that marc makes seem attainable. Just fun chess and he adds a live into a book with so much annotation. 10/10

[Nathan Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very well written; Esserman's writing style keeps the book interesting and the ideas presened in the book are very useful as well

[Ralph Stoever]

A romantic opening upgrade to the age of computers with a lot of lines demonstrating how activity can still trump material even in this day and age.

[Seemasree]

Nice

[Gianni · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing. I found my favorite opening because of this book

[Sandy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book, full of full games and funny prose. The conceits are a bit much sometimes, but perhaps that does help it sink in... (Each chapter has a single extended metaphor for it's variation).

[Alvaro Serrano López · Rating 5 out of 5]

Aunque no me lo he terminado porque es DEEEEEENSO lo recomiendo a cualquier persona de +1200 elo, que tenga bien memorizadas las casillas ya que si no, es muy dificil de seguir.

Siendo un libro de ajedrez tiene un vocabulario rico, variado y lúcido que te hace disfrutar del ajedrez y ponerte en la piel de Marc Esserman (Maestro Internacional)

Leyéndolo, el tablero cobra vida, los caballos galopan al centro y se sacrifican en pro de la victoria, la reina enemiga se convierte en el objetivo al cual vas ahogando agónicamente hasta dejarla sin oxigeno (casillas jeje)

Aunque objetivamente no merece la pena leer un libro de 500 paginas de UNA sola apertura (en contra de la siciliana) si tu nivel es bajo-medio, si que merece enormemente la pena si te gusta el ajedrez y quieres vivirlo mas a fondo, te va a sorprender lo que disfruta el autor con cada posicion, con cada error del enemigo. Ademas es facil de seguir porque todo está ilustrado.

Este libro lo recomiendó Daniel Naroditsky en su stream y no me extraña, otro titán del ajedrez y mago de la palabra/explicaciones

Quiero terminar diciendo que el gambito morra es el que más aura tiene, las posiciones son abiertas y locas y los sacrificios vuelan por el tablero

[Tyler Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book has kept me playing chess years after I lost motivation to improve my elo. My entire repertoire is built around trying to get the Smith-Morra gambit as much as possible - I’m allergic to any opening other than 1. e4.

Marc deserves a statue for reviving the coolest opening in chess.

[Prajakta · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a newer player, I was skeptical initially of buying a chess book cuz I wasn't sure if I'd comprehend something so detailed. However, this was very easy to read, understand and technical without being monotonous. Has a lot of nice nuggets to boot. 10/10 would recommend.