Ponziani Opening - 4...exd4 Lines (after 3...Nf6 4.d4)
Black meets 4.d4 with 4...exd4, entering Jaenisch Counterattack lines. Reply 5.e5 to kick the knight, then develop with Bc4, Bb3, Nxc3, O-O, and Qd3 aiming for h4. Watch for 10...Re8?, which lets you win the queen with Ng5. Push e6, follow with Ng5 and Bxe6+ for a kingside majority, then Qh3 brings a winning attack.
Let's learn the Ponziani Opening! We claim big central space early, and Black often falls into quick traps. Let's begin with 1.e4.
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Scroll the moves: the board follows.
Key lines
The free lines of this chapter, each one trainable move by move.
- Main Line
… 8... Bb4 9. O-O O-O 10. Qd3 d6 11. e6
- 5...Ng4
… 5. e5 Ng4 6. cxd4 d6 7. h3 Nh6 8. Bxh6 gxh6 9. Bb5 dxe5 10. Nxe5 Bb4+ 11. Nc3
- 5...Ng4
… 5. e5 Ng4 6. cxd4 d6 7. h3 Nh6 8. Bxh6 gxh6 9. Bb5 Bd7 10. O-O dxe5 11. Nc3
- Trap: 5...Ng4, you win a piece
… 5. e5 Ng4 6. cxd4 Bb4+ 7. Nc3 O-O 8. h3 Nxf2 9. Kxf2 f6 10. Bc4+ Kh8 11. Rf1
- 5...Ng4
… 5. e5 Ng4 6. cxd4 Bb4+ 7. Nc3 O-O 8. h3 Nh6 9. Bg5 f6 10. exf6 Nf7 11. fxg7 Re8+ 12. Be3
- Trap: 9...Bxf3, you win a piece
… 5. e5 Qe7 6. cxd4 d6 7. Bb5 dxe5 8. dxe5 Bg4 9. O-O Bxf3 10. exf6 Qxf6 11. Qxf3 Qxf3 12. gxf3 O-O-O 13. Bxc6 bxc6 14. Be3
- 5...Qe7
… 5. e5 Qe7 6. cxd4 d6 7. Bb5 dxe5 8. dxe5 Bd7 9. O-O
- 5...Ne4
… 5. e5 Ne4 6. Qe2 Nc5 7. cxd4 Na6 8. Nc3 Bb4 9. Qe4 O-O 10. Bd3 g6 11. O-O
- 5...Ne4
… 5. e5 Ne4 6. Qe2 d5 7. exd6 f5 8. Nxd4 Nxd4 9. cxd4 Bxd6 10. f3 Qh4+ 11. g3 Bxg3+ 12. hxg3 Qxh1 13. Bf4
- 5...Ne4
… 5. e5 Ne4 6. Qe2 d5 7. exd6 Bf5 8. Nbd2 Bxd6 9. Nxe4 O-O 10. Nxd6 Qxd6 11. Nxd4 Nxd4 12. cxd4 Qb4+ 13. Bd2
- 7...d5
… 7. Bb3 d5 8. exd6 Bxd6 9. O-O O-O 10. Bg5 Qd7 11. cxd4 h6 12. Be3
- 7...Be7
… 7. Bb3 Be7 8. cxd4 O-O 9. d5 Na5 10. d6 cxd6 11. exd6 Bf6 12. O-O
- 8...Be7
… 8. Nxc3 Be7 9. a4
- 9...Bxc3
… 9. O-O Bxc3 10. bxc3 O-O 11. Bg5 Qe8 12. Re1
- 10...Bxc3
… 10. Qd3 Bxc3 11. Ng5
Other chapters
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. c3 Nf6 4. d4 Nxe4 5. d5 Ne7 6. Nxe5 d6 7. Bb5+ c6 8. dxc6 bxc6 9. Nxc6 Qb6 10. Nd4+ Bd7 11. Bxd7+ Kxd7 12. O-O
4...Nxe4 Lines (after 3...Nf6 4.d4)
Black grabs your e4 pawn with 4...Nxe4 after 3...Nf6. Push 5.d5 to kick the knight, then recapture with 6.Nxe5. Watch for the common mistake 6...d6, met by 7.Bb5+ to win material. Aim for a position with a queenside majority against Black's isolated d-pawn.
10 lines1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. c3 Bc5 4. d4 exd4 5. cxd4 Bb4+ 6. Nc3 d6 7. d5 Ne5 8. Qa4+ Bd7 9. Qxb4 Nxf3+ 10. gxf3 Nf6 11. Be3 b6 12. O-O-O
3...Bc5 Lines
After 3...Bc5, Black often falls for the trap with 6...d6 and 7...Ne5, letting you play 8.Qa4+ and win the bishop pair with 9.Qxb4. Follow up with Qd4 and f4, preparing e5 while pressing Black's backward c7 pawn. Watch for Black grabbing material with 4...exd4, which only helps you after 5.cxd4. Aim for a safe king on c1, the bishop pair, and lasting pressure on the half-open c-file.
8 lines1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. c3 d6 4. d4 exd4 5. cxd4 Bg4 6. Be2 Nf6 7. h3 Bh5 8. d5 Ne5 9. Qa4+ Ned7 10. g4 Bg6 11. Nc3
3...d6 Lines
Facing the Ponziani with 3...d6, meet 4...exd4 with 5.cxd4 and develop normally. After ...Bg4, ...Nf6, play Be2, h3, then d5 to kick the c6 knight. If ...Ne5, hit it with Qa4+, then push g4, h4, and g5 to open the kingside. Aim for active piece play against Black's queenside majority.
5 lines1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. c3 d5 4. exd5 Qxd5 5. d4 exd4 6. cxd4 Bg4 7. Be2 O-O-O 8. Nc3 Bb4 9. O-O Bxc3 10. bxc3 Nf6 11. Be3 Ne4 12. Qc2
3...d5 Lines
After 6...Bg4 7.Be2 O-O-O 8.Nc3 Bb4 9.O-O Bxc3 10.bxc3, you gain the bishop pair. Push c4, d5, Qb2 and a4, hitting g7. Aim for central space and a winning attack.
12 lines
Learn 4...exd4 Lines (after 3...Nf6 4.d4) on the board
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