The Fried Liver Attack: What is it?
The Fried Liver Attack is one of the most deadly attacks in all of chess for white. If your opponent/Black has not studied the Fried Liver Attack you could win the game in as little as 8 moves. To play the attack you and your opponent have to play the following moves
If Black does not play 3.Nf6 then I am sorry but White cannot Fried Liver them, as the queen would be guarding the g5 square in which the knight would be at.
The sole purpose of this attack is to go fork the Queen and the Rook via the weak f7 square that is only defended by the king. If Black does not protect or block your bishop from hitting the square, than the game could possibly go on like this
Black does not defend f7, resulting in a fork. Black protects their Queen by moving it the only safe square, e7 and White takes Blacks undefended Rook on h8.
Just like that, you are up an entire Rook. Although this may not last for the whole game, as the Knight is trapped in the corner and it is most likely that an opponent piece may take it, White will still have an advantage. Aha, but it's not that simple. In this blog I will be showing 2 variations in which I think you will get the most often.
To start, both variations require the crucial move for Black to stop the attack of the f7 square, d5!
Black plays d5, deflecting the White Bishop away from aiming the f7 square
The first varitaion I will be showing is the Italian Game: Knight Attack, Polerio, Bishop Check Line. For me, as a 1500 Rapid player, this line is one of the most common lines I have gotten when I have played the Fried Liver Attack. The moves for this variation are the following
White takes the pawn on d5, and Black responds by moving the Knight out of the way of harm to a5 attacking the undefended Bishop. (Note: You may be wondering why Black can't retake the pawn with the Knight on f6. Yes, Black can take back on d5, but it can lead to some complications in which I will explain in the next variation.) White moves out of the way by giving a check with the Bishop, Black blocks with the pawn, White's pawn takes and Black recaptures with their pawn.
In this position White is slightly better as for 1. Black has an isolated pawn which is always a weakness for the endgame and 2. Blacks Knight on a5 isn't exactly the best Knight in the world. The most popular engine line is to continue by playing the Bishop back to e2, but I personally enjoy playing the more attacking move Qf3.
The 2nd variation I am going to show is called the Italian Game: Fried Liver Attack, 6...Kxf7 7.Qf3+ 7...Ke6 8.Nc3 8...Nb4. This variation is a bit scatterbrained, so I am going to show you all the moves on the board
Black recaptures the pawn with the Knight on f6 and White sacks the Knight for the f7 pawn to force Black's King to take it. Now in this position Black's Knight is pinned to it's King, so the natural thing is to add more pressure to this Knight by playing Qf3+. Black must move it's king up in order to defend the Knight. White continues to develop and add pressure to the Knight by playing Nc3! Now Black--Hanging on by a thread-- Continues to protect the Knight with the move Nb4. White slides the Bishop back, and Black finally protects the Knight fully with the f-pawn
Although White is down by 2 pieces, Blacks position is terrible to say the least. White can continue to exploit Black's position by playing moves such as O-O and d4!, breaking more into the position. If you luckily get this variation, play solidly and you will easily be able to defeat Black/Your Opponent.
Now I will show you 2 games in which I have played which include both the variations
1. Italian Game: Knight Attack, Polerio, Bishop Check Line.
2. Fried Liver Attack, 6...Kxf7 7.Qf3+ 7...Ke6 8.Nc3 8...Nb4.
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