Italian Game

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This article uses algebraic notation to describe chess moves.
Image:chess zhor 26.png
Image:chess zver 26.png a8 rd b8 c8 bd d8 qd e8 kd f8 bd g8 nd h8 rd Image:chess zver 26.png
a7 pd b7 pd c7 pd d7 pd e7 f7 pd g7 pd h7 pd
a6 b6 c6 nd d6 e6 f6 g6 h6
a5 b5 c5 d5 e5 pd f5 g5 h5
a4 b4 c4 bl d4 e4 pl f4 g4 h4
a3 b3 c3 d3 e3 f3 nl g3 h3
a2 pl b2 pl c2 pl d2 pl e2 f2 pl g2 pl h2 pl
a1 rl b1 nl c1 bl d1 ql e1 kl f1 g1 h1 rl
Image:chess zhor 26.png
The starting position of the Italian Game


The Italian Game is a family of chess openings, beginning:

1. e4 e5
2. Nf3 Nc6
3. Bc4

The Italian Game is one of the oldest recorded chess opening; 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 term Italian Game is now used interchangeably with Giuoco Piano, though that term also refers particularly to play after 3…Bc5. It is regarded as an Open Game, or Double King's Pawn game.

The game defining move is the White king's bishop's move to c4 (the so-called "Italian bishop") in preparation for an early attack on Blacks vulnerable f7 square. As such the game is typified by aggressive play, where Black's best chances are often vigorous counter-attacks. Because of the large body of theory to be mastered, with little scope for novelty, and the risks involved in the tactical nature of the play, most tournament players when confronted with 3.Bc4 prefer to opt for a solid, if drawish defence such as 3…Be7, or, in the past, 3...d6. However the Italian Game is still popular in correspondence chess, where both players have access to theory, and in amateur games which has the challenge of working it out across the board (though this has been likened to setting out into the open sea without rudder or sails [1]).

Contents

[edit] Variations

The main variations are:

  • 3…Bc5
Until the 19th century the main line of the Italian Game. Dubbed the Giuoco Piano ("Quiet Game") in contra-distinction to the more aggressive lines then being developed, this continues 4.d3, the positional Giuoco Pianissimo ("Very Quiet Game"), or the main line 4.c3 (the original Giuoco Piano) leading to positions first analyzed by Greco in the 17th Century, and re-vitalized at the turn of the 20th by the Moller Attack.
This variation also contains the aggressive Evans Gambit (4.b4), and the Jerome Gambit (4.Bxf7+), both 19th Century attempts to open up the game.
  • 3…Nf6
Leading to the more aggressive Two Knights Defense; again, this is more in the nature of a counter-attack, and some (eg Chigorin) have proposed it be re-named so. The Two Knights Defence contains the knife-edged Traxler/Wilkes-Barre Variation, the aggressive Fegatello (or Fried Liver) Attack, and the complex Max Lange Attack.
  • 3…Be7
Leading to the Hungarian Defence, a solid, drawish game which is often chosen in tournament play to avoid the complexities and risks of the other lines.
  • 3…d6
The Paris Defence, another solid positional line; this was popular in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, but hardly seen now.

[edit] See also

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Estrin p. 59.

[edit] References

[edit] Further reading

Wikibooks
Opening theory in chess has related information at

[edit] External links