Essential Openings: The Italian Game

This is probably the second most common 1. e4 e5 opening that arises, so without any further ado, let’s get right into it!

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4

A very intuitive move that seeks to put immediate pressure on the f7 pawn. The reason why the f7 pawn is such a common focus point is that it is only defended by the Black King: if Black is not careful, then he will quickly get overrun with an extremely powerful attack centered around Ng5.

We’ll be examining 2 common options from Black: the mirror-move 3.. Bc5, and the more dynamic response of 3… Nf6.

3… Bc5

4. c3

Seeking to punish Black’s last move immediately by means of a quick d4-d5. Black’s best chance at counterplay comes from:

4… Nf6!

The sharpest (and best) move here: immediately threatening White’s undefended e4 pawn. Most modern Grandmasters prefer to play the simple move 5. d3 here, simply defending the e4 pawn and playing for positional pressure. We’ll take a look at the more classical move 5. d4 first. The reason why 5. d4 is not as popular anymore is because with proper play, Black can pretty much equalize the position. However, if you do not know the complications surrounding 5. d4, Black’s position will crumble very quickly.

5. d4 exd4

The exchange is pretty much forced, as retreating the Bishop could lead to something like this: 5… Bb6 6. Nxe5 Nxe5
7. dxe5 Nxe4 8. Bxf7! Kxf7 9. Qd5 Kf8 10. Qxe4!

6. cxd4

The opening already looks like it has gone horribly wrong for Black: just a few moves into the opening, White already has 2 very strong central pawns, and it looks like Black’s developed pieces are just going to be bullied by the White pawns. How can he survive?

6… Bb4+!

Pretty much forced: 6… Bb6 is rather weak, and Black needs to get counterplay as quickly as possible.