Two Knights Defense - Italian Variation (4.Nc3)
After 4.Nc3, take the pawn with Nxe4 and meet Nxe4 with d5, hitting bishop and knight at once. Follow up Qxd5, Qd6, Bg4 pinning the knight, and Bh5 to keep it pinned. Castle queenside, then push f5 and f4 with the bishop pair.
Let's learn the Italian Variation! White sidesteps into 4.Nc3 to defend the e4 pawn. We grab that pawn, then push d5 to win our piece back with the bishop pair. Let's begin with 1.e4.
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Key lines
The free lines of this chapter, each one trainable move by move.
- Main Line
… 8. O-O Bg4 9. h3 Bh5 10. d3 O-O-O
- Trap: 5.Bxf7+, you win a rook
… 4... Nxe4 5. Bxf7+ Kxf7 6. Nxe4 d5 7. Ng3 e4 8. Ng1 h5 9. Nxh5 Qh4 10. Ng3 Bg4 11. f3 exf3 12. Nxf3 Qxg3+ 13. hxg3 Rxh1+ 14. Kf2 Rxd1 15. c3 Re8
- 5. Bxf7+
… 4... Nxe4 5. Bxf7+ Kxf7 6. Nxe4 d5 7. Ng3 e4 8. Ng1 h5 9. d3 Bg4 10. f3 exf3 11. Nxf3 Kg8
- 5. Bxf7+
… 4... Nxe4 5. Bxf7+ Kxf7 6. Nxe4 d5 7. Nc3 e4 8. Ng1 Bf5 9. Nge2 d4
- 5. Bxf7+
… 4... Nxe4 5. Bxf7+ Kxf7 6. Nxe4 d5 7. Nc3 e4 8. Ng1 Bf5 9. Qh5+ g6 10. Qe2 Bg7 11. d3 exd3 12. cxd3 Re8
- 5. Bxf7+
… 4... Nxe4 5. Bxf7+ Kxf7 6. Nxe4 d5 7. Neg5+ Kg8 8. d3 h6 9. Nh3 Bg4 10. Nhg1 e4 11. dxe4 dxe4 12. Qxd8 Rxd8 13. Bd2 exf3 14. Nxf3 Bd6
- 6. Bd3
… 5... d5 6. Bd3 dxe4 7. Bxe4 Bd6 8. Bxc6+ bxc6 9. d3 O-O 10. O-O Bg4
- 6. Bd3
… 5... d5 6. Bd3 dxe4 7. Bxe4 Bd6 8. O-O O-O 9. Re1 Bg4
- Trap: 6.Bxd5, you win a piece
… 8... Bg4 9. d3 O-O-O
Other chapters
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. d3 Be7 5. O-O O-O 6. c3 d5 7. exd5 Nxd5
Modern Bishop's Opening (4.d3)
White enters the Italian with Bc4 and settles for the quiet 4.d3. Meet it with ...Be7, castle, and after 6.c3 d5 7.exd5 Nxd5, giving your bishop on e7 more room. Aim for an active, comfortable setup where your pieces develop freely and your d5 knight eyes the center.
18 lines1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. Ng5 d5 5. exd5 Na5 6. Bb5+ c6 7. dxc6 bxc6 8. Bd3 Nd5 9. Nf3 Bd6 10. O-O Nf4 11. Re1 Nxd3 12. cxd3 O-O 13. Nxe5 c5
Bishop Check Line (6.Bb5+)
White checks with 6.Bb5+, so block with ...c6 and recapture ...bxc6, then meet 8.Bd3 with ...Nd5 and ...Nf4 to grab the bishop. Castle, let White take on e5, and push ...c5, even though it lands isolated. Watch for the 8.Ba4 trap where ...Qd4 nets you a piece. You reach the bishop pair against White's isolated and doubled d-pawns.
18 lines1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. O-O Nxe4 5. Re1 d5 6. Bb5 Bc5 7. d4 exd4 8. Nxd4 O-O
4.O-O Lines
White castles early with 4.O-O, skipping c3, so grab the e4 pawn with ...Nxe4. After 5.Re1 d5 6.Bb5 Bc5, meet 7.d4 with ...exd4, and if 8.Nxd4 castle with O-O. Watch for 5.Re1, a common mistake you punish. You land up a pawn with a strong attack, sometimes even winning material outright.
6 lines1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. d4 exd4 5. e5 d5 6. Bb5 Ne4 7. Nxd4 Bc5 8. Be3 O-O 9. Nxc6 bxc6 10. Bxc5 Nxc5 11. Bxc6 Rb8 12. Qxd5 Qe7
Open Variation (4.d4)
White opens the center with 4.d4, steering you into the Scotch Gambit. Meet it with 4...exd4, 5...d5, 6...Ne4 and 7...Bc5, then castle with 8...O-O and defend your knight with 12...Qe7. You land in a position with an isolated c7 pawn against White's queenside majority.
9 lines
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