Italian Game

This article uses algebraic notation to describe chess moves.

Italian Game
Moves	1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4
ECO	C50-C59
Origin	15th century
Parent	Open Game
Chessgames.com opening explorer

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 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 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's defining move is the White king's bishop's move to c4 (the so-called "Italian bishop") in preparation for an early attack on Black's 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).

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.

See also

• Italian Gambit
• Chess Opening
• Encyclopaedia of Chess Openings
• List of chess openings
• List of chess openings named after places

References

Further reading

• Colins, Sam (2005), Understanding the Chess Openings, Gambit Publications, ISBN 1-904600-28-X 

The Wikibook Chess Opening Theory has a page on the topic of Italian Game

External links

• The Italian Game for Beginners