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CHAPTER 1. e4 "The Italian"

7 Jan 202461 viewsEnglish (US)

The Italian - Explained

GENERAL INFO

The Italian Game is one of the oldest recorded chess openings; it occurs in the Göttingen manuscript and was developed by players such as Damiano and Polerio in the 16th century, and later by Greco in 1620, who gave the game its main line. It has been extensively analyzed for more than 300 years. The Italian is very popular opening and it is seen in all levels of the game, beginner level (800- 1200 elo) but also in the advanced and master lever (2100- 2800 elo).

INTRODUCTION

In this Blog Post we are going to analyze three of many variations.

1. Two Knights Defence (3. Bc4 Nf6)
2. Giuoco Piano (3. Bc4 Bc5)
3. Rousseau Gambit (3. Bc4 f5)

But let's take a look at the moves that introduce the "The Italian", and like this we have 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 ...

1. 3. ...Nf6 Two Knights Defence

This defence with 3. ...Nf6, according to the Db (database), is the second most common move for black (32%) and now white has two options. The first option is to go for a more positional game and play the plans of the opening, like c3 (so the Bishop can came back)/ d3 or d4 (to attack or keep the center closed)/ and even an alternative system with Nc3. Now, the second option is for white to go for the well known ***"Fried Liver Attack"***, were white is trying to attack black quickly. In the MDb (masters database) things are different. The ''Fried Liver Attack'' is very easy for them to stop, so not a playable option. But 3. ...Nf6 (42%) is still thir second most common move and the continuation for white depends on the plans, the strongest move according to the MDb is 4. d3 plan (71%).

EXAMPLE GAME (PanoSot2104 vs forestjump90) with 4. Ng5
EXAMPLE GAME (PanoSot2104 vs DenisCV) with 4. c3

2. 3. ...Bc5 Giuoco Piano

The Giuoco Piano is probably the most common move for black in all levels of the game. In the Db we see that 3. ...Βc5 is the most with 33% and in the MDb we see that it is still the top move with 54%. Also the plans for both side are amlost the same with every other variation, and that's why The Italian Opening is - the most of the times- the first opening that we learn.

EXAMPLE GAME (PanoSot2104 vs BOT maia1)

3. 3. ...f5 Rousseau Gambit

The Rousseau Gambit is a very dangerous weapon that black can use and if white doesn't know the best moves it can go wrong very quickly. In the Db we notice that 3. ...f5 is not a very common move for black to play but it scores very well with 51% win rate for black. The best way to fight the Rousseau Gambit is to play the move 4. d4. Now, in the MDb the move 3. ...f5 is not a good choice for for black, and we can definitely see that, white scores 58% win rate.

EXAMPLE GAME (Womacka, Mathias vs Forgacs, Gyula) with 4. d4...