[Site "www.freeware-schach.de"]
[Date "2018.12.26"]
[Round ""]
[White "Weiß"]
[Black "Schwarz"]
[WhiteElo "0"]
[BlackElo "0"]
[ECO ""]
[Result ""]
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7
6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 O-O 8. c3 d5
One of Black's more aggressive alternatives is the Marshall Attack: after 3...a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.O-O Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 O-O 8.c3 Black plays 8...d5, sacrificing a pawn with 9.exd5 Nxd5 10.Nxe5 Nxe5 11.Rxe5. In exchange, Black has an attack on White's king: 11...c6 12.d4 Bd6 13.Re1 Qh4. This attack can be quite treacherous for White. In game 8 of the World Championship in 2004 between Vladimir Kramnik and Péter Lékó, Kramnik succumbed to Black's attack. White often avoids the Marshall Attack by playing one of the anti-Marshall systems, 8.a4 or 8.h3 instead of 8.c3.
The Marshall Attack was introduced by Frank Marshall in a famous game against Capablanca in 1918. According to legend, Marshall saved this prepared innovation for eight years before getting the chance to play it against Capablanca. This seems unlikely, and in fact the gambit had been played earlier in a few obscure games including a consultation game in Havana, although there's no evidence that Marshall knew of these games. Capablanca weathered the Black attack and won brilliantly. Improvements to Black's play were found (Marshall played 11...Nf6 instead of 11...c6) and the Marshall Attack was adopted by top players including Boris Spassky.
http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chesscollection?cid=1004116http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chesscollection?cid=1004116
