Openings
The Italian Game: Plans, Gambits and Traps
The Italian Game starts with 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4. White develops a knight that attacks e5, then points a bishop straight at f7, the one square next to Black's king that only the king itself defends. It is one of the oldest openings in chess, it follows every textbook opening principle, and it scales from your first club game all the way to world championship matches. That makes it an ideal first opening for anyone who plays 1.e4.
The starting position and Black's two main choices
After 3.Bc4, Black usually chooses between two developing moves. 3...Bc5 mirrors White's bishop and leads to the Giuoco Piano, Italian for "quiet game." 3...Nf6 is the Two Knights Defense, a more provocative move that counterattacks the e4 pawn and invites White to go after f7 at once. Both are perfectly sound. Moves like 3...d6 are playable but passive, and 3...Nd4 is a trap line covered below.
Giuoco Piano: the c3 and d4 plan
White's most natural idea is to build a big pawn center with c3 followed by d4. The pawn on c3 prepares d4 and also takes the d4 square away from Black's knight. If Black lets White get pawns on both e4 and d4 with nothing hitting them, White gets more space and an easy game.
The sharp version goes 4.c3 Nf6 5.d4 exd4 6.cxd4 Bb4+. Now 7.Bd2 is the calm, reliable answer: after 7...Bxd2+ 8.Nbxd2 d5 Black strikes back in the center immediately, which is exactly the right reaction. The pawn break ...d5 is Black's key resource in almost every Italian line, because it challenges e4 and opens lines for Black's pieces. The more aggressive 7.Nc3 Nxe4 8.O-O Bxc3 9.d5 is the Moller Attack, a gambit full of tactics that is fun to study but demands precise memory from both sides.
Modern grandmasters usually prefer the slower plan, sometimes called the Giuoco Pianissimo: 4.c3 Nf6 5.d3. White keeps the center closed, castles, plays Re1, a4 and h3, and only later decides between d4 and a kingside build-up with Nbd2-f1-g3. A typical position arises after 5...d6 6.O-O O-O 7.Re1 a6 8.a4 Ba7 9.h3. The h3 move stops ...Bg4 pinning the knight, and a4 gains space on the queenside. The idea is not to win quickly but to keep a small, lasting edge while avoiding forcing lines Black has prepared.
Play through the slow Giuoco Pianissimo plan →The Evans Gambit idea
Instead of 4.c3, White can play 4.b4, the Evans Gambit, named after the Welsh sea captain William Evans who introduced it in the 1820s. White offers the b-pawn to deflect Black's bishop. After 4...Bxb4 5.c3 the bishop is attacked again, and White gains time to play d4 with tempo, often castling quickly and aiming pieces at f7 and the black king.
The point to understand is the trade: one pawn for development and a strong center. If White plays slowly afterwards, Black simply ends up a pawn ahead. If Black grabs material greedily and neglects development, the attack can become crushing. You do not need to play the Evans as White to benefit from it; studying it teaches how quickly a lead in development turns into an attack.
The Two Knights Defense and the Fried Liver
After 3...Nf6, the direct 4.Ng5 attacks f7 twice, with knight and bishop. Black must block the bishop's diagonal with 4...d5, and after 5.exd5 Black faces a critical decision.
The natural-looking recapture 5...Nxd5 is a famous danger. White can play 6.Nxf7, sacrificing the knight: 6...Kxf7 7.Qf3+ Ke6 and the black king is forced into the center to defend the pinned knight on d5. This is the Fried Liver Attack. White continues with moves like 8.Nc3 and d4, bringing pieces against an exposed king. Over the board, with a clock running, most players below club level cannot defend this position. Many coaches also point out that 6.d4 is a strong alternative for White against 5...Nxd5, so the recapture is risky either way.
The main line for Black is 5...Na5. The knight hits the bishop on c4, and after 6.Bb5+ c6 7.dxc6 bxc6 8.Be2 h6 9.Nf3 e4 10.Ne5 Black has given up a pawn but gained real activity and time. This is a respected gambit at every level. The lesson for Black is simple: in the Two Knights, if you play 3...Nf6, you must know 5...Na5. If you do not want to learn it, choose 3...Bc5 instead.
See the main line with 5...Na5 →White also has the quieter 4.d3 against the Two Knights, which avoids all this theory and leads to positions similar to the Giuoco Pianissimo.
Typical traps
The Blackburne Shilling Gambit
This is a trap Black sets with 3...Nd4, a move that breaks the rule about moving one piece twice. If White greedily plays 4.Nxe5, Black answers 4...Qg5, attacking both the knight and the g2 pawn. After the natural 5.Nxf7 Qxg2 6.Rf1 Qxe4+ 7.Be2 Nf3 it is checkmate, because the knight covers the king's escape squares and the bishop on e2 is pinned. The correct reply to 3...Nd4 is 4.Nxd4 exd4 5.O-O or simply 4.c3 or 4.O-O, after which Black has just wasted time.
Play through the Blackburne Shilling trap →Legal's Mate pattern
When Black plays an early ...d6 and ...Bg4 pinning the knight on f3, White sometimes has the queen sacrifice Nxe5, allowing ...Bxd1 and then mating with Bxf7+ and Nd5. The full sequence is covered in our guide to opening principles. The takeaway: a pin on the f3 knight is not absolute while the queen is behind it, so always check what happens if the knight simply moves.
Ignoring f7
The common thread in every Italian trap is the f7 square (or f2 for White). Before playing a loose move, ask whether your opponent can bring a second attacker to that square. Knight on g5 plus bishop on c4, or queen on f3 plus bishop on c4, are the patterns to watch.
How to practice this
- Learn just the first eight to ten moves of one line for each side: 3...Bc5 4.c3 Nf6 5.d3 as White, and 3...Bc5 as Black if you want to avoid the Fried Liver.
- Play the Fried Liver against the computer on our play page from both sides. Defending it once or twice teaches more than reading about it.
- Set up the Giuoco Pianissimo on the analysis board and practice the ...d5 break for Black and the d4 break for White until the timing feels natural.
- Solve f7 and f2 attack patterns in puzzles, then compare with other openings in our openings overview.