Hello,

Doing an "analysis" by grade in online database, 2500+ players accept gambit and play Ng-e7, i.e as in a game of Conquest, . 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.c3 dxc3 5.Nxc3 Nc6 6Bc4 a6 70.0 Ng-e7 8.Bg5 f6.

4...d5 only sells at the 2100 level, so probably not a good idea. In the equilvalent 2.c3 sicillian line with e6, black usually delays c5*d4. Not sure on the precise reason for this.
          If black is very keen on declining gambit, then can try 4...d3. There are some positons where c3 and nd2, are better than nc3 for white.
          With the english attack against Scheveningen setup, black has options for early d5, as well as the more familar a6 setup. Why english attack plan can work against Taimanov, no d6, setups I haven't worked out yet.

Bye John S

That said what is so bad about ...Nf6. 5.e5 followed by 6.cxd4 seems good enough to me. If the knight goes to d5 then Nc3 and Bc4 present problems .

If you could help me out and give an explanation as to why ...Nf6! is busting then I would love to hear it.

Honestly, it doesn't matter how it is spelled or said. To answer the question posed to me I play 3.d4 4.Nxd4 with either 6.Be3 or 6.Bc4. I usually play the open sicilian and wanted to surprise a gentleman at the local club that plays 2...e6 trying to throw me off. If I am not mistaken though it wouldn't be helpful to play 4.c3 against 2...d6 as it is a line that is now becoming bad for white. I was under the impression that the morra gambit was no longer being used because of ...d6 instead of ...e6 and if you could force someone to play something like it then it would be good.

I am curious to hear you pronounce "Scheveningen".

From May 10th until May 14th 1940 The Netherlands had to defend against the German invasion. There were a lot of rumours of German soldiers wearing Dutch uniforms. The ultimate test to decide if a soldier was Dutch or German was to let him pronounce "Scheveningen".

4...d5 5.exd5 exd5
Does not this transpose to a French Tarrasch?
1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 c5 4.exd5 exd5 5.Ngf3 and Black often plays cxd4 somewhere, while c3 is a common move for White.

Anyone interested in the correct spelling of the 2... e6/ 5... d6 setup can find it in a good atlas. Scheveningen is a village near Den Haag near the North Sea beach. So I thought it approprate, that someone else - an Englishman for instance - should correct it.
Of course the principle continuation for Black is to accept the pawn; White's equality has to been proven yet - see some other threads.
I wonder how AV wants to avoid the Scheveningen after 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 ? Here 3.d4 cxd4 4.c3? definitely is not a good idea because of Nf6!

Final thought: if AV does not mind the Tarrasch type of anti-IQP play, why not 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.c3 then? Maybe because of d5 4.exd5 Qxd5 5.d4 and Black is not obliged to exchange on d4 ?

it seems though that in your variation
6 Nxd4 blockading the isolated queen pawn should be good with the possibility of Qb3 attacking d5 and b7 with ideas of Be2-f3 or g3 and Bg2 and Nd2-f1-e3 . Be3 sufficiently guards the knight against Nc6. I think that it looks +=. What does anyone else think?

I was wondering since I don't have a database of games if the move order 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.c3 dxc3 5.Nxc3 Nc6 and then you enter the older Smith Morra where the position is sharp but chances are equal. This would avoid having to learn a bunch of theory of the english attack even though it is proven to be +=.

What do you think? Help?