Ponziani Opening

I doubt if that is what he meant. 

I have often heard that the Ponziani is good for the sub 2000 level but that is ignorance talking.  I have played it for more than 30 years and my opponents were 90% masters and experts.

The Ponziani has an undeserved poor reputation.  It gives good practical results as can be attested to by members of Ponziani Power Vote Chess.

Svidler pretty much played in full houdini style too though.

Nakamura stated that he was really pleased with his play after the game. He said that he was tactically sharp in the game, but, "can I help it if Svidler played perfectly"?

(He said that on ICC.)

What Svidler actually said was that he was not prepared to face the Ponziani, and so steered the game away from the main lines. That's slightly, but critically different from what you said.

Who said the line 4. Qa4  Nf6 was "suspect"?

That particular line does  not have a whole lot ot theory and both sides could have deviated at several places. There were lines Nakamura could have played which would have given Svidler a headache but very probably drawn if Svidler would find the right defense.

The Ruy Lopez, Ponziani, Italian Game, Two Knights Defense, Four Knights all lead to a draw if Black plays with no mistakes.

All this is about theory--how the opening plays on the practical side at  a level 99% of the chess population play at is also important.

Ruy Lopez is better.

the R uy might offer more chances for white if you want to join the 100,000 people who know it 20 moves deep.

Are there any traps that white or black can use in the opening? 

you should spend more time studying openings and less time writing about openings

Yep. For example, the first time I played an OTB Ponziani game against a Master, he lost right away with 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.c3 Nf6 4.d4 Nxe4 5.d5 Ne7 6.Nxe5 d6?? 7.Bb5+ 1-0.

Ponz's book somehow implies White wins a pawn with 7.Bb5+ or 7.Qa4+, but 7.Bb5+ basically wins the game after 7...c6 8.dxc6 bxc6 9.Nxc6 Qb6 10.Nd4+ Kd8 (10...Bd7 11.Bxd7+ Kxd7 12.O-O is similar) 11.O-O and Black, down a pawn with the King in the center, is doomed. Houdini actually gives White more than a 3 point advantage already, while 7.Qa4+ gets less than a +1, and should not be suggested at all.

Here is a game I played 3 months ago 15 minutes per side.

Ponziani has lots of traps but the traps are just a bonus. The lines without so many traps are ok also on a practical basis for anyone rated 2500 or below or even for someone rated above 2500.

I simply disagree, I think it is harder for the vast majority of chess players to respond to the Ponziani than to the Ruy Lopez.

Thanks to my friend, coolbluesky, for giving us excellent videos on the Ponziani Opening!

Hi!

9...Qxb5 is not with check, the King is in e1.

Man you should not use such game to persuade others about how good is this opening, where the black makes most fatal mistake he can in ponziani. I play this opening sometimes on rapid opens, blitz and fide rated games, but not many people made this mistake. Usually with good players it goes into mainline ->Je7->Jg6, which is kind of drawish.

The point of this opening is, it does not have many solid lines for black and white play is same in almost all lines, thus its not so much theory to learn. I have friends, who rely on queens gambit or sicilian, but they keep going wrong with these openings against violations from mainlines, such as Alapin or budapest gambit. I don't get why somebody plays an opening, where he is dreaded of certain lines, which he is too lazy to study because its so many of them.

The theory of the Ponziani Opening is still developing. But, for sure, there are a lot less lines to learn than say the Ruy Lopez or either side of the Sicilian.

Not a trap exactly but a dangerous line Black can employ is as follows:

You gave white a very bad 8th move.  Accurate moves give white an endgame advantage in this line.