Pinned knight on f3

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Kxg

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6

I liked 3. Bb5 (Ruy Lopez) and I still do thought sometimes I try 3. Bc4 (depends on the opзonent). The main problem is, that for 5 of 6 my last games with 3. Bc4 I suffered from the pinned knight on f3. Say 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. d3 d6. I usually castle now. I don't like 5. h3 since it weakens king position and weakens g3. And now.. 5... Bg6. And now my queen can't move (else BxN, pxN and my king is exposed) nor knight can since it's pinned.

 

I suppose the more aggresive (and/or usual) 4. d4 might help on this but black gets a pawn with a chance of fast development and control of centre..

If anyone could give me some advice on this, I'd really appreciate it. Thanks in advance!

Scarblac

Well... it's a slight inconvenience, and perhaps White castled a bit too quickly (since 6.h3 Bh4 7.g4 is a bit double edged now), but how about a perfectly normal plan like 6.Be3, 7.Nbd2, and now your queen can move again?

Also, I don't agree that 3.d4 (the Scotch) is more aggressive, and it's certainly not more popular :-)

Kxg

Oops, I meant 4. d4 (Max Lange Attack)

Scarblac

Oops, I thought we were talking about 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.d3 d6 etc.

In the Italian, I definitely think you're castling too soon. I would prefer 5.c3, 5.Nc3 or 5.Bg5. If you haven't castled yet and Black plays ...Bg4, you can answer h3 and g4 without fear.

Fromper
Kxg wrote:

Oops, I meant 4. d4 (Max Lange Attack)


Against the Two Knights (1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6), I prefer the 4. d4 exd4 5. e5 line. Against the Giuoco Piano (black plays 3. ... Bc5), I go for 4. c3 and 5. d4, and again, I respond to 5. ... exd4 with 6. e5. The two lines work out pretty similar, with white pretty much always getting either a strong attack or the pawn back in both of them.