"I don't see White in trouble in any of these lines," => "time to find a new White opening."

Do you know of an opening where white guarantees an advantage in the critical lines? I don't, but I will gladly switch if it exists. Absent that, I think having maybe 1/4 gambits in my repertoire is a great ratio. The SM and KG are the two I've chosen. I'm happy to force my opponents to become current on both at the level of Esserman and Shaw's books. If they do, then they can have equality in positions I'm comfortable with. Most don't.

I'll respond back on 8... Bg5 vs 8... Bf4 soon.

I've been reviewing the SM and found this post. It seems to me this may be the critical line in the whole gambit, so I'm stirring up the discussion again. It's a fantastically complicated situation.

After 1.  e4 c5 2.  d4 cxd4 3.  c3 dxc3 4.  Nxc3 Nc6 5.  Nf3 d6 6.  Bc4 a6 7.  O-O Nf6 8.  Bf4 e5 9. Ng5 exf4 10. Nxe7 there are two reasonable continuations: A) 10... Qe7 and B) 10... Qd7.

A) 10... Qe7 11 Nxh8 Ne5 and we have several interesting tries:
  A1) 12. Rc1
    A11) 12... g6 13. Bb3 Bd7 14. f3 Bg7 15. Nxg6 hxg6 16. Qd2
    A12) 12... Nxc4 13. Qa4+ b5 (13... Bd7? 14. Nc7+ Kd8 15. Qxc4 and Nf7+ is deadly) 14. Nxb5 axb5 15. Qxa8
  A2) 12. Bb3 Bd7 13. Rc1 transposes to A11)
  A3) 12. Nd5 Nxd5 13.Bxd5 g6 14.Qa4+ (or Rc1 first, which likely transposes) Bd7 15.Qb3 Rb8 16.Rac1
    A31) 16... Bg7 17.Nxg6 hxg6 18.Rc7 (MNb's line)
    A32) 16... Bb5 17. Qh3 Bxf1 (Bxh8 is similar) 18. Rc8 Rxc7 19. Qxc8+ Qd8 20. Qe6+ Qe7 21. Qc8 draw
  A4) 12. Qa4+ Bd7 13. Qb4 (or Qb3 as in OP) Rb8 14. Rfd1

B) 10... Qd7 11. Nxh8 Ne5 12. Be2 (stopping f3) g6 13. Rc1 Bg7 14 Nd5 Nxd5 15. Qxd5

I don't see white in trouble in any of these lines, so I'm seeing things Esserman's way that Taylor's Temple of Doom isn't so scary any more. He's got some fantastic suggestions against the "Nge7" lines for white, which I think is the other critical test of the SM.

Here is a very interesting (and somewhat risky) attempt by Black to play for a win in the Taylor variation of the Morra, after Esserman's 9.Bf4 recommendation. Black sacrifices an exchange, and gets excellent positional compensation.
I have not done a any serious analytical work on it (no time currently), but it does seem promising indeed. Engines initially scorn it, but after a while they change their "mind" and claim approximate equality. In any case, Morra fans should look at it seriously. Here is the available material, with (very) light annotations:



What do you think?