Italy !
We think espresso, fresh pasta, oven pizza, Dolce Vita, and many things this country offers to the World
something like this brings Italian lifestyle and vacation mode to mind...
this would be Portofino, Italy.
not to far from there, here's a picture of mine in the northern part ( southern part is equally beautiful I heard)
or that a simple espresso with its crema !!
But this is a chess blog and Italy reminds us of the Italian game, popular for centuries and played at amateur level as well as top Grandmaster level !
Italian Game for chess players brings this picture to mind
1e4 e5 2Nf3 Nc6 3 Bc4 Bc5 4 c3
or with a real chess board ( nothing like playing with wood pieces and also analyzing on a real board)
This would be 1e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bc4 Bc5 4 d3 Nf6 5 c3 d6, Giuoco Piano or Pianissimo.
This means a slow game, White develops c2-c3 and d2-d3, not going with the d2-d4 push right away. But later on, White could still push d3-d4 after preparation. You could think of it as a build-up in the center with c2-c3 and d2-d3 preparing for the key push d3-d4 later on. Of course Black has many ways to play against this plan, which makes this opening still relevant in 2025 and 2026 !
Now I would like to dig deeper into a key position I like to play with white. It is impossible to summarize all possible variations and plans, so I specialized into this set-up as White.
I often get this position as Black has developed quite logically and in the spirit of the italian game
White has delayed castled and played h2-h3 followed by Nd2-f1.
Nowadays, we need to turn to engines to evaluate positions, and all textbooks or old videos on the topic may be outdated. Stockfish 17 is what all titled players are using when analyzing or reviewing their games.
Position White to play
This is the position after the moves 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. d3 Bc5 5. c3 a6 6. Bb3 Ba7 7. Nbd2 d6 8. h3 h6 9. Nf1 O-O
Well, a logical idea would be to bring the knight from f1 to g3
But Stockfish 17 thinks Black can play 10..d5 with fine counterplay in the center.
The evaluation of this position is 0.08, i.e nearly equal. my current rating on chess.com is a little bit above 2600 and I am sure my opponents would play ..d5 right away.
So, while preparing our openings, we turn to the silicone oracle and also to GM games played.
and Both GMs and Stockfish 17 recommend a pawn push 10 g4!
Welcome to modern chess !!
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. d3 Bc5 5. c3 a6 6. Bb3 Ba7 7. Nbd2 d6 8. h3 h6 9. Nf1 O-O 10. g4
Is Black lost ? not at all, but this is the most precise way to fight for an advantage
What is Stockfish 17 evaluation after 10 .g4 ?
something like +0.61. Black can defend but this clearly shows that 10g4 is much more challenging than the normal 10 Ng3
We are going for the attack with White.
Now I am practicing what I am preaching.
Here are two games on the same theme, against reasonably strong opponents
and here a GM level example of play with a nice win for White
What is the most challenging answer to this system ? Well Black doesnt have to castle. Black should wait until White castles because the attack g2-g4 is strong because white will play either Nf5 or g4-g5 with changes to open the g-file.
I will show an example where I lost, not because of the opening but I wasn't able to deal with complications when Black castled long 0-0-0
I have worked on plans where Black delayed 0-0 and prepared 0-0-0 since then, but thats for another blog entry.
Comments/Suggestions Welcome !
