GM Rafael Leitão

Rafael Duailibe Leitão (born 1979 in São Luís, Maranhão) is a Brazilian chess grandmaster. He won the World Youth Chess Championship in the U12 category in 1991 and in the U18 category in 1996. He won the Brazilian Chess Championship in 1996, 1997, 1998, 2004 and 2011 and played for Brazil in the Chess Olympiads of 1996, 2000, 2002, 2006 and 2010. He is currently playing in the 26th World Correspondence Chess Championship, which began in the summer of 2010. His username on the Internet Chess Club is "Pigzilla". A strong European result for him in adult age was sharing 1st place with Jeroen Piket and Zurab Azmaiparashvili at Antwerp Hoogovens open 1998 (Lost Boys event).

In the above opening puzzle of Smith–Morra Gambit patterns, it is Black to play. GM Leitão played d6! What a grandmaster. Taking the pawn on c3 only make Black's development slower and White will brutally make rapid unstoppable attacks. By playing d6, not only the bishop on c8 ready to be activated, the pawn also make more rooms for the queen on d8 and challenge the control of the e5 square. Note that even the Black's f7 square is weak but tactically and positionally it is still adequately safe.

The following is the full game.

[Event "VIII Open"]

[Site "Sants ESP"]

[Date "2006.08.25"]

[Round "1"]

[White "Bohigas Santasusagna, L"]

[Black "Leitao, R"]

[Result "0-1"]

[WhiteElo "2049"]

[BlackElo "2598"]

[ECO "B22"]

1.e4 c5 2.d4 cxd4 3.c3 Nf6 4.e5 Nd5 5.Nf3 Nc6 6.Bc4 Nb6 7.Bb3 d6 8.exd6 Qxd6 9.cxd4 Be6 10.Bxe6 Qxe6+ 11.Qe2 Qxe2+ 12.Kxe2 g6 13.Nc3 Bg7 14.Be3 O-O 15.Rac1 Rfd8 16.Rhd1 Nd5 17.Na4 Rac8 18.Nc5 b6 19.Nd3 e6 20.Nde5 Nce7 21.g4 f6 22.Nd3 g5 23.h4 h6 24.hxg5 hxg5 25.Rxc8 Rxc8 26.Rc1 Rxc1 27.Bxc1 Kf7 28.Bd2 Nc6 29.a3 Bf8 30.Be3 Kg6 31.Kd2 Bd6 32.Ke2 Bf8 33.Kd2 Bg7 34.Ke2 Nxe3 35.fxe3 f5 36.Nh2 Na5 37.Kf3 Nc4 38.Nf1 b5 39.Nc5 Kf7 40.Nd3 a5 41.Ng3 fxg4+ 0-1