Is Qf6 playable agianst the italian?

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blobby12

In this game black reached a fine middle game after playing Qf6,but all it took was a couple mistakes and he was dead. I know I didn't play a perfect opening, but can black play Qf6 and with perfect play on both sides go into a fine middle game? 

waffllemaster

It doesn't seem terrible... looks like white has to play activity to exploit the fact that Black's queen and kings-knight will need a couple of moves to be placed well.

With best play though you should be able to exploit it (easier said that done :)  But here's what my computer recommends.

Geranyl

Qf6 isn't horrible, it's just what Black does with his queen afterwards that decides its outcome. Included some commentary in the game. Cheers.

waffllemaster

If it's any help, I don't think I'd be able to exploit it for an advantage in a tournament game against a player of equal strength.  Or in other words, looking at it on my own, I can't "feel" an advantage for white.

If you're asking about GM or computer evaluation though, it seems it's not considered a good move.  The highest rated player in my database that played Qf6 is 2400 and it's not on my computer's top 3 moves :)

bresando

It's not an outright mistake, but still much worse than the traditional moves. 

The dynamic answer is 5.d4! when exd4?! is bad and B is forced into 5...Bb6. the resulting positions are not exciting at all for B, but he can probably survive.