Italian opening ( Knight Attack ) PART 3

POLERIO DEFENCE

( Na5 )

Na5 is a popular and best way to defend against KNIGHT ATTACK , ACCEPTING THE FACT THAT BLACK IS A PAWN DOWN 

firstly lets see a beginner mistake

Nxd5

Nxd5 is simply lost for black 

1. 1. White is up a pawn 
   2. Black a 2 isolated pawn islands
   3. Blacks king cant castle
   4. Black can get rapid development but in long run its vry hard to defend pawn islands, white can easily win them 1 by 1 

MAIN LINE

( Bd7 )

• Taking b7 pawn is very risky it's considered as a poison pawn because :-

1. 1.  Blacks get fast development with tempo 
   2. It leads to draw , if white play normal developing moves like pawn d3   (shown in the diagram below )

DRAW IDEA

1. 1. Bd3
   2. Be2
   3. Qf3 ( sideline ) 

ALL OPTIONS AFTER C6 

( Qf3 )

Bxc6+ is bad for white because :-

1. Whites queen is misplaced ( black can gain a tempo )
2. Whites knight is under attack
3. Black can easily swarm an attack ( look at the board )

Bd3 is Best for white because :-

1. It prevent black from getting any e4 breaks
2. It prevents any discovery attack on our knight for ex ( Nd5 )

( Bd3 )

Bd3 is solid at the same time passive for white 

The game is evenly balanced

1. White is up a pawn but lack development
2. Black is down a pawn but get an initiative
3. Black can easily generate an attack 
4. BUT, if black is not careful and didn't get any compensation white will easily win the endgame  

( There are sidelines also after Bd3 bt that will make this part more lengthy ) 

( Be2 )

FORCED MOVE

• Be2 is a shaper position
• Black can justify his pawn down by lead in development
• But, White has easier time developing ( BLACK HAS TO BE MUCH MORE PRECISE IN Be2 LINE IF BLACK SLOWS DOWN  OR JUST GIVE 1 EXTRA MOVE WHITE CAN CASTLE AND DEVELOP NORMALLY ) + Black has a bad pawn structure ( lost in any endgame )
• SO ALL THE MOVES IN Be2 ARE FORCED
• In this variation white give-up his extra pawn 
• After f4 en~passant is bad for black because it resolves all the problems in white position 
• After exd3, recapturing the pawn with the queen is best move but it's very risky after Rd8 so i prefer cxd3  

THAT'S ALL ABOUT POLERIO DEFENCE I TRIED TO KEEP IT SIMPLE AND EXPLAIN IT AS SIMPLE AS POSSIBLE !!

FEEL FREE TO ASK ANY QUESTION ?!

Instead of accepting the draw can queen not go to a6 then c4 and play goes on.In taking b7 line

Qa6 yes u can save your queen but black can easily use your pieces as pinata to:-

• To gain space 
• To develop rapidly 
• To cramp whites position
• And exploiting awkwardly placed queen on a6 
• ( Plus according to engine in spite being 2 pawns down black is better thats means this position is very sharp one wrong move by white and black will gain significant advantage )

I HOPE YOU UNDERSTAND