Italian Game: free opening course

Key ideas

• The bishop on c4 targets f7: tactics with Ng5, Qb3 or Bxf7+ appear whenever Black neglects that square.
• Prepare d4 with c3 so that after ...exd4 you can recapture with the c-pawn and keep two pawns in the centre.
• In the slow d3 lines, play a4 (gaining space and making room for the bishop on a2), Re1, h3 and Nbd2-f1-g3 before breaking with d4.
• Castle early and use the e-file: Re1 supports e4 and later the e5 push.
• If Black's dark-squared bishop sits on c5, b4 and d4 gain time by hitting it, as in the Evans Gambit.

The 6 variations in the course

• Giuoco Piano: 4.c3 and 5.d4: 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Nf6 5. d4 exd4 6. cxd4 Bb4+ … — The classical plan: c3 and d4 build a big centre. After the exchanges on d4 and d2, White gets an isolated d-pawn but very active pieces, a queen on b3 and play down the e-file.
• Giuoco Pianissimo: 4.c3 and 5.d3: 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Nf6 5. d3 d6 6. O-O a6 … — The modern top-level choice: White keeps the centre closed with d3, gains space with a4, and manoeuvres (Re1, h3, Nbd2) before choosing between d4 and a queenside expansion with b4.
• Evans Gambit: 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. b4 Bxb4 5. c3 Be7 6. d4 Na5 … — White sacrifices the b-pawn to play c3 and d4 with tempo. In this line (Kasparov-Anand, Riga 1995) Black returns to e7 and White gets a space advantage with e5 and quick kingside pressure.
• Two Knights Defence: 4.Ng5 main line: 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. Ng5 d5 5. exd5 Na5 6. Bb5+ c6 … — White attacks f7 at once with 4.Ng5. Black must give a pawn with 4...d5 5.exd5 Na5, getting quick development and space in return. White keeps the extra pawn and must untangle carefully.
• Two Knights Defence: 4.d3: 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. d3 Be7 5. O-O O-O 6. Re1 d6 … — The quiet approach: White defends e4 with d3 and plays a Ruy Lopez-style structure with c3, Re1 and Nbd2-f1-g3.
• Hungarian Defence: 3...Be7: 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Be7 4. d4 d6 5. d5 Nb8 6. Bd3 Nf6 … — Black avoids all Italian tactics with 3...Be7. White takes extra central space with 4.d4 and 5.d5, reaching a comfortable King's Indian-reversed structure.

Traps you will learn (3)

• Legal's Mate — Black pins the f3 knight to the queen with ...Bg4, but the pin is not real: White plays Nxe5 anyway, and if Black grabs the queen, Bxf7+ and Nd5 deliver mate with three minor pieces.
• Two Knights: 4...h6? 5.Nxf7 — After 4.Ng5 Black must defend f7 with 4...d5. The tempting 4...h6, kicking the knight, is too slow: 5.Nxf7 forks queen and rook and wins the exchange and a pawn.
• Blackburne Shilling Gambit (warning) — A warning for White: after 3...Nd4 the e5 pawn looks free, but 4.Nxe5? Qg5! hits the knight and g2 and leads to a smothered mate if White is greedy. Simply play 4.Nxd4 or 4.O-O and Black's knight move is just a lost tempo.

How the opening courses work

Each course teaches an opening in a few main variations. For every move you read why it is played, which other moves are good, and which tempting moves are mistakes and why. Each course also shows the traps of the opening: the ones you can set and the ones to avoid.

After a lesson you play the moves yourself in a drill. The lines you learn go into your review, which brings them back when you are about to forget them (spaced repetition). 30 line courses add many short lines per opening, a few new ones a day, and every named opening, more than 3,800 lines, has a lesson of its own.