Italian Game
C50 · 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4
The oldest way to attack f7, and still one of the best first openings to learn.
Analysing from a photo?
This page needs a FEN or a board you set up by hand. The app reads a position straight from a photograph of a real board or a screenshot, and keeps your saved positions between sessions.
The idea
White develops the bishop to its most natural square, where it stares at f7, the only square in Black's camp defended by nothing but the king. Everything about the Italian follows from that: rapid development, a fight for the centre with d4 or the slower c3 and d4, and pressure that arrives before either side has finished castling.
Typical plans
- Play c3 and d4 to build a broad centre, which is the modern main line rather than the old immediate d4.
- Castle short quickly and put the rook on e1, aiming down the file at e5.
- In the Giuoco Piano, manoeuvre the queen's knight via b1-d2-f1-g3 to reach the kingside.
What goes wrong
- Grabbing on f7 too early. The Fried Liver works against a defender who does not know it and loses to one who does.
- Allowing d5 by Black with a strong tempo. If Black frees the position with d5 under good circumstances, White's edge evaporates.
- Blocking the c-pawn with a knight on c3, which takes away the c3-d4 plan that gives the opening its point.
Using the board above
The board starts at the position after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4. Play the continuation you normally meet, then ask the engine what it would do. That is more useful than reading a line, because it answers the question you actually have, which is what happens in the position you keep reaching.
One caution worth carrying into it: an engine evaluates an opening on the assumption that both sides then play perfectly. A line rated a tenth of a pawn better whose middlegames you have never played is worth less to you than a line rated slightly worse that produces positions you understand. More on that here.