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Thoughts on a random Italian

Thoughts on a random Italian

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shuttlechess92
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Hi Chess.com readers,

This is my first in a series of "thoughts"on chess.

 

tips/ warnings when reading this:


1. Go at your own pace. I do not advise just "buzzing" through the game - most of what these articles will be about is conceptual and less "repetition."

2. If something does not make sense, ask! Just remember to click "track this post" so you will be notified when I reply to your question.

3. This is a "thoughts" article, so it may seem a bit weird. The format resembles what would go on in one's head. I might put some restrictions on what one side could do just to reach a certain position of interest.

 

Now let's get started!

 

preface:

Before we get started, we do need to be familiar with the following famous trap:

Legall's mate

 

 

 

If you read the title of this blog post and thought I was going to describe a beautiful Italian denizen that I had just met, then I am sorry to disappoint. I refer to, actually, the chess opening known as the Italian.

 

 

and so now, we have reached a critical position. White's position looks very familiar to one that we have just been exposed to (refer to Legall's mate example). Thus, White's "threat" is Nxe5.

But is it really a threat? This is the main idea that we will be looking at today.

 

 

White is playing very fancy. After Black takes the bishop with his queen, White intends to capture on g4 and be a pawn up. But Black has some surprises!

 

For example, take a look at the following enticing variations:

1) White takes the bishop:

 

2) White flees left

 

3) White is only left with:

 

 

Thank you for reading this blog post. While it is true that this is not the normal learning that you would get from a grandmaster or anybody of that caliber, I hope that my weird thoughts were at least a tad interesting. I would really appreciate if you would leave any feedback - just a comment, no matter how long or short. If you want to tell me how to improve, I'd love to hear it - or if you just want to say hi, go for it!

I plan on writing these articles every Thursday or Friday, so it could be seen as a small thing to look forward to at the end of the week.

Sincerely yours,
Julian