I've recently been studying lines in the Italian Game as black.
I have openings worked out for most lines, including the Classical Variation, Center Attack:
- e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Nf6 5. d4
What I call "early castle":
- e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. O-O
and Pianissimo (without c3):
- e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. d3
But I struggle with one line in particular. The Italian Game: Classical Variation, Giuoco Pianissimo:
- e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Nf6 5. d3 d6 6. O-O O-O
(or sometimes I will play O-O first like so: 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Nf6 5. d3 O-O 6. O-O d6)
Correct me if I'm wrong, but from looking at opening databases, this is the main line of the Italian, and surprisingly, I can't seem to really find too much information about it.
There are dozens and dozens of videos on youtube covering all the Italian sidelines, the Two Knights Defense, Fried Liver, Evans Gambit, Center Attack, Albin Gambit, Deutz Gambit, Giuoco Pianissimo (without c3), etc, etc, but surprisingly little about the Italian main line, or I'm just not finding it.
It's especially important that I find information about this specific line, because I feel like it comes up quite often in my games, and I dread facing it because I feel so unprepared, which is a sign I need to give it a lot more study.
And if you take the Sicilian out of the picture, it's a cornerstone opening in chess, along with Ruy Lopez of course. (Which I've been making great progress on studying)
It looks like white has basically nine playable moves for move seven, and it's a bit overwhelming as black.
What are white's plans? What should black's plan be? Which white responses are sound, and which are just trying for tricks?
Hi all. I'm 1200~ (rapid) on chess.com, having peaked at 1300 and slowly declined over the last few weeks.
I used to try a lot of openings, but in classic beginner fashion - i.e. where I knew the first few moves/lines but not much else. Recently I decided to stop messing around with different openings and just follow the typical beginner advice: play simply, with following strong opening principles.
This has led me to basically playing the Italian game and Giuoco Piano in all of my matches, and they have become really stale and uninspiring. I've also been losing a lot more, partially from playing too much/tilting, but also because I have no real ideas.
I don't particularly want to spend hours studying openings, nor do I think I'm ready for that yet, but at the same time I have no idea how to get out of this rut. I found that even when I did use openings a lot, most players my level don't play the line properly and it ends up being pointless playing those openings.
Any ideas? Should I learn one or two openings really in depth so I'm not just playing the Italian all the time?
Been playing a lot of online blitz lately and getting into a lot of e4 e5 nf3 nc6 bc4 bc5 positions as black. This leads to a pretty boring symmetrical game in a lot of cases, and I'd like a cool move to pull out around here. Any suggestions?
Hi,
I'm relatively new to chess - been playing for about a year, and I'm rated around 1200 online. I've been trying to develop a little bit of an opening repertoire, and I've been most focused on the Giuoco Piano as black, since I like playing e5 against e4, and the Giuoco Piano is all anyone seems to play against e4 e5 at my level.
I'm starting to get deeper into it and learn what comes after the first few moves. Most of the moves seem pretty intuitive and natural - they follow basic opening principles like developing your pieces, attacking the center, etc. The first move that kinda baffles me, though, is when black backs his bishop away from c5 to a7, usually around move 7 or 8. For example, Carlsen does it here:
https://www.chess.com/analysis/game/master/13526611
Can someone please explain the theory behind a move like this? It seems counterintuitive to me to take a well-developed piece that's in the center of the board and back it away like that. There must be some brilliant reason for this that I'm missing.
Do you like Ba7 in positions like this? Or is there another idea you think is better?
Also, if there's any content out there (articles, videos, etc) that helps explain the theory behind playing the Giuoco Piano as black, I'd love recommendations.
Thanks!
When analyzing the Giuoco Piano with stockfish, I noticed something curious: one of the top suggested moves was 4.a4. This move has never been played at the top level and in fact seems to rarely get played at any level. What purpose could this move possibly serve that makes it reasonable in the eyes of a computer? Could new theory arise from this?
Edit: after leaving the engine on longer, the suggestion eventually dropped out.
1200s-level player here, trying to get better at playing against the main line Giuoco Pianissimo as black. I keep running into the same problem again and again. Wondering if anyone had any thoughts on this.
Basically, I'm always developing my knight to f6 early on, and that knight on f6 consistently seems like a weakness for me. White brings out his dark-square bishop to aim at that square, and hops a knight into the center to target it, and the queen is a threat to come after it too... and it just seems like my kingside always falls apart.
A good example game is this one:
https://www.chess.com/a/2FHx7k6tWKZY2
I'm looking at move 9 in particular. That bishop/knight combo targeting f6 seems like a huge problem. The engine says just to push the g pawn and go after the bishop... but isn't moving pawns around your king also a huge problem? This position just seems awful for black no matter what you do. And yet, the computer says all the moves that led to this position were basically fine.
Does anyone out there have recommendations on how to navigate this? Or, alternatively - a different way to play moves 1-8 so you avoid this predicament in the first place? Would love to hear any thoughts on this. Thanks!
I play the Italian as white and I love aggressive openings and tactical positions with plenty of attacking potential, my favourite being the Evans Gambit. My problem is that when I play as black, I've tried a few different responses and against 1. e4 like the accelerated dragon, but I'd like to play some more 1. e4 e5 as black. At my level (mid 1300s rapid) I've noticed that playing e5 will mostly likely lead to my opponent playing the Italian but playing the main line as black usually leads me to a slow and boring game with few attacking or tactical opportunities. So I'm looking for some unconventional lines or gambits as black in the Italian and Giuoco Piano position that will give me the initiative, it doesn't really need to be sound or played at the highest levels, but also ideally a line that actually leads to a dynamic and interesting game, unlike something like the Blackburne-Shilling which is more of a one-trick pony for blitz. Thanks for any suggestions
Ciao, mi potete consigliare un programma per sviluppare un videogioco platform non 3D per console e PC?
It just lines up to perfectly. Mwah, magnifique
As a 1400 player on Lichess blitz I find every game I play as Black begins 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bc4 Bc5 4 Nc3 d6 5 d3 Nf6 or similar. This is very repetitive and seems to always give me a passive position.
What are the best ways to break out of this line suitable for my rating?
