Owen Defense: Smith Gambit: what should White play?

In the Owen Defense: Smith Gambit, White holds a comfortable central advantage and typically secures the position against counterplay. The most popular choice is c3, which reinforces the center and takes away the b4 square from Black's knight. While c3 has been played in 65.3% of the 82,187 recorded games with an engine evaluation of +1.10, the engine's slight preference is the prophylactic a3, evaluated at +1.06 across 7.4% of games.

Bolstering the Center with c3

The standard plan for White is c3, which solidifies the d4 pawn while preventing Black from bothering the d3 bishop. In the 54K recorded games featuring this continuation, White scores 55.5%. An illustrative continuation proceeds with c3 g6 O-O Bg7 Re1 a6, where White completes kingside castling and maintains full central control while Black prepares kingside fianchetto development.

Prophylaxis with a3

The subtle move a3 also targets Black's potential jump to b4, scoring 56.8% for White across 6.1K games. By keeping the c3 square available for the knight or maintaining flexible pawn structures, White avoids piece trades. An illustrative sequence runs a3 g6 Bg5 f6 Bd2 Nge7, where White actively develops the dark-squared bishop before retreating it to d2 upon Black's pawn thrust.

Alternatives: Nc3 and Qe2

White can also opt for rapid piece deployment via Nc3, played in 17.9% of games with a +0.96 evaluation and a 55.0% score, though it allows the illustrative sequence Nc3 Nb4 Bf1 d5 e5 c5. Another viable option is Qe2, chosen in 7.5% of games (scoring 57.3%, evaluated at +0.74), leading to lines like Qe2 Nb4 Bb5 a6 Ba4 b5. White can also choose Nbd2, played in 1.9% of games with an evaluation of +1.02 and a 53.2% score, demonstrated by Nbd2 Nf6 c3 d6 Qe2 g6.