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An Attacking Concept in the Giuoco Piano

In the Italian Opening with 4.c3 Nf6 5.d4 exd4 6.cxd4 Bb4 the move 7.Nbd2 has replaced the alternatives 7.Nc3 and 7.Bd2 as the new main line. Various strong players have been experimenting with this concept, and although Black is supposed to be doing reasonably well, White definitely retains good practical chances. A new idea was recently introduced by Mamedyarov and successfully employed by Jorden van Foreest. The plan of castling queenside certainly offers White excellent attacking chances, as they plan to launch a pawn storm on the kingside. So far, the right path for Black hasn't been demonstrated in practice, so it’s likely that you will be able to catch your opponent by surprise after studying these original analyses.

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Sample video

Contents

  • Introduction
  • Theory
  • 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.c3 Nf6 5.d4 exd4 6.cxd4 Bb4+ 7.Nbd2
  • Intro and Move orders
  • Playing with IQP after 7...d5: Trent vs Kramnik
  • New Idea Castling Queenside 7...Nxe4 8.d5 Nxd2 9.Bxd2 Bxd2 10.Qxd2 Ne7 11.0-0-0: Van Foreest vs Navara
  • Outro
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Italian Game

The Italian Game, which arises after 3...Bc5, is one of the oldest chess openings, already mentioned in the famous 16th century Göttingen manuscript. In the centuries which followed it was the most popular way to open the game and its name came about in honour of the masters of the Italian school, who strove above all for free play for their pieces and complicated combinations.

White has several plans at his disposition in the position in the diagram. One of the most aggressive which leads to open positions with a lot of tactical possibilities is, after 4.c3 Nf6 to seize an early initiative in the centre after 5.d4. The move 5.d4 constitutes an attack on the bishop on c5. Black’s best move is to exchange the pawns with 5...exd4, but after 6.cxd4 White has at his disposition a dangerous mobile pawn duo. Here already Black has to play with great accuracy. Thus the retreat 6...Bb6 would be bad, because it would give White’s central pawns the opportunity to advance. Instead of that, he has to play 6...Bb4+, in order to force White to react to the check. The moderate reply is 7.Bd2 Bxd2+ 8.Nbxd2, but in many open games this allows the important central counter-thrust 8... d5, which breaks up White’s centre and gains a tempo with the attack on the bishop on c4. After 9.exd5 Nxd5 all that is left of the ideal centre d4-e4 is an isolated pawn on d4. However both sides have lots of chances here.

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