Italian Game

White develops the bishop to a good square where it controls a valuable diagonal. From c4 the Bishop controls d5 and pressures Black's f7-pawn, the most vulnerable pawn in Blacks position. Having developed both their kingside minor pieces quickly, White is ready to castle. White's plans include a swift attack on f7 and building a big centre with c3 and d4.

There is no immediate threat to Black's position so they have some flexibility in how to respond. It would be good to develop a piece, and there are several options, the top two being 3...Nf6, the Two Knights, or 3...Bc5, the Giuoco Piano.^[1]

3...Nf6 is the Two Knights defence. This develops a piece and puts pressure on e4.

If White should try to defend it with 4. Nc3, this allows the centre fork trick 4...Nxe4 5. Nxe4 d5 6. Bd3 dxe4 7. Bxe4. Therefore White more usually defends it with 4. d3, which can transpose into the Giuoco Pianissimo (see below), or with 4. Ng5, a sharp move that also attacks f7 and can lead to an aggressive knight sacrifice known as the Fried liver. The Two Knights defence has the reputation for bringing about a tactical and sharp game.

The most common move (about 53% of games) is 3...Bc5. By developing the kingside bishop before the kingside knight, Black's queen keeps control of the g5 square, then after 4...Nf6, Black is ready to castle 5...O-O.

By developing the kingside in this order, Black avoids the sharper Ng5 lines that follow the Two Knights defence: g5 is controlled by the queen until Black is ready to castle and defend f7 with the rook. Hence this continuation is called the Giuoco piano (Italian: Quiet game): it avoids the sharp Ng5 continuations in favour of a steadier, more positional game.

Although 3...Nf6 4. Ng5 is not winning by force, avoiding the complications with 3...Bc5 is a bit more common.^[1]

After 3...Bc5, White usual plans are to continue with c3 and d4 to build a strong centre, or c3 and d3, the Giuoco pianissimo (Italian: Very quiet game). Despite the "quiet game" soubriquet, Black may face some aggressive sidelines, including 4. b4, the Evans gambit.

3...h6, called the Anti-Fried Liver, is an amateur attempt to avoid the Ng5 lines. The idea is to allow Black to play 4...Nf6 without giving up control of g5. Though this is a straightforward idea, its drawbacks are that it does not control the centre or develop a piece, and essentially just gives White extra tempo to attack. White can play 4. d4 to bust open the centre, and Black has no time to play 4...Nf6 after all. 4...exd4 5. Nxd4 Nxd4 6. Qxd4±. Then, before Black can get their knight out, they must play 6...d6 to prevent e5, letting White get further ahead in development (see diagram). 3...d6 is strictly inferior to 3...Bc5.

3...Be7, the Hungarian defence, is a minor sideline. This is a more conservative developing move to get ready to castle while not giving up control of g5 yet. After 4. d4 d6, a Philidor-style position is reached. This usually leads to the centre opening up and a queen trade. 5. dxe5 dxe5 6. Qxd8+ Bxd8⩲.

3...d6, the Paris defence, is very passive. It avoids developing a piece and restricts Black's kingside bishop to over defend e5, which wasn't at risk anyway. This usually transposes into an Exchange Philidor: 4. d4 exd4 5. Nxd4 Nf6 6. Nc3 and Black's bishop has nowhere better to go than 6...Be7.

3...Nd4?!, the Blackburne Shilling or Kostić gambit, is primarily a psychological try. Black pretends to blunder their e-pawn, but has a crushing response prepared: 4. Nxe5? Qg5!∓ (see diagram). However after 4. Nxd4 exd4⩲ Black is behind in development and cannot find compensation.

3...f5?!, the Rousseau gambit, resembles a Vienna gambit with colours reversed. Black hopes White will take the offered pawn, 4. exf5?, deflecting one of their pawns from the centre and allowing 4...e5, and the only place for the White's knight to go is back to g1. However, White can decline with 4. d3 or countergambit with 4. d4

The Italian game is one of the oldest openings in chess.

Early studies of the opening were published in the 17th century by the Italians Giulio Cesare Polerio and Gioachino Greco, the strongest player of his time. 3...Bc5, the Guioco piano, was the usual continuation.

In the 18th century it was promoted by the Modenese masters, including Domenico Lorenzo Ponziani. The Modenese school of thought emphasised piece activity and material over pawn structure (in contrast to their contemporary Philidor), and thought that White's bishop was better developed to c4, from where it could attack f7, rather than b5 to pressure the e5 (as in the Spanish game).

In the 19th century, the popularity of the Romantic style of lead to a shift to more tactical lines. 4. b4, the Evans gambit, reinvigorated the Guioco piano and became the most common continuation, a favourite of Morphy and the like. The more tactical Two knights defence received revival in the second half of the 19th century, and the theory received a shake-up with the invention of the audacious Traxler counterattack, 3...Nf6 4.Ng5 Bc5.

In the 20th century the more tactical Italian lines fell out of vogue in favour of the rich, strategic possibilities of the slower Guioco pianissimo.

The Italian remains a very popular opening for club players and a good alternative to the Spanish game. It is a solid choice that is easy to study and a popular recommendation for beginners.

For explanation of theory tables, see theory table and for notation, see algebraic notation.

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4

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Wikipedia has related information at Italian Game

• Kasparov, Garry, & Keene, Raymond 1989 Batsford chess openings 2. ISBN 0-8050-3409-9.