Going into the final round, my score was 3-0. Kreiman had 2 1/2, as did

Sagalchik, Young, Bonin and Alexander Beltre.

Kreiman - Rohde

Marshall CC Action 12/26/96, 1996

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.c3 Nf6

An invitation to the long lines of the Moeller Attack, which start with

5 d4 exd4 6 cxd4 Bb4+ 7 Nc3! Nxe4 8 O-O Bxc3 9 d5! Check your libraries.

5.d3

Kreiman instead essays the increasingly popular Giuoco Pianissimo (Very

Quiet Game).

d6 6.Bb3

Preserving the bishop against potential exchange by ... Nc6-a5.

a6 7.Nbd2 Ba7

Experience has shown that it is best to retreat this bishop right away

so that the move d3-d4 never comes with tempo, and can often then be met by the

immediate retort ... Bc8-g4, pressurizing the d4 square.

8.Nc4 Ne7

Unusual. The idea is to neutralize any later Bc1-g5 pin with ... Ne7-g6

followed by ... h7-h6. I did not want to commit myself yet with 8 ... O-O 9 Bg5,

and the pin is a little irritating.

9.0-0 0-0 10.Re1 Ng6 11.Ne3

It is better to play 11 h3 and follow up with the space-gaining d3-d4.

As played, Kreiman does not obtain any advantage.

Be6 12.Nf5 d5

I used an inordinate amount of time on this move. It does allow the game

to become very complicated. Better suited to the task at hand was 12 ... Qd7 13

N3h4 Nxh4 (Black cannot hold the tension indefinitely as White would continue

with Bc1-g5) 14 Nxh4 and White does not have any particular advantage.

13.Ng5

The most ambitious, attempting to secure the two bishops, and light

square superiority. However, White will have to be cautious regarding the

potential opening of the f-file.

Qd7 14.Qf3 Rae8

I was not too sure about the position after 14 ... h6 15 Nxh6+! gxh6 16

Qxf6 hxg5 17 Bxg5.

15.Be3!

Correctly alleviating the pressure against f2.

Bxe3 16.fxe3

Better was 16 Nxe3 and White would have a slight advantage.

h6 17.Nxe6

Kreiman just barely gets away with this. On 17 Nh3 Black would have a

slight advantage due to his better grip on the center.

fxe6 18.Qg3 Kh7

No purpose is served by 18 ... exf5 19 Qxg6 and Black cannot take twice

on e4 because of the pin on the b3-g8 diagonal.

19.Nh4 Nxh4 20.Qxh4 dxe4 21.dxe4 Qd2 22.Rab1 g5 23.Qf2

Boris played this and offered a draw. Much worse is 23 Qh3?? Nxe4 and

Black has the threat 24 ... Qf2+ followed by 25 ... Qxe1+ and 26 ... Nf2+. I

accepted the draw offer, as thus I tied for first (with Sagalchik, who defeated

Beltre, and Bonin, who defeated Young), and in any case I had less time left

than Boris, and the extra pawn is doubled, isolated, and very hard to utilize.

The most important chess opening to learn, especially for young

players, is the Italian Game, comprising mainly the Giuoco Piano and

the Two Knights Defense. This is because this opening focuses on the

early assault on the square f7 (or f2), which is a weak square in the

opening as it is only defended by the king.

The opening moves of the Italian Game are 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bc4.

Then Black's main choices are 3 ... Bc5 (the Giuoco Piano), and 3 ...

Nf6 (the Two Knights Defense). Let's take the opening moves step by

step.

1 e4 e5

[DIAGRAM after 1 e4 e5]

Above is the position after the moves 1 e4 e5. These moves introduce

the so-called "Double King-Pawn Openings" or "Open Games". Moving the

king-pawn two squares forward is the most classical move, because it

occupies and controls the center, and allows for quick development of

the king bishop and queen, which facilitates early castling. White's

choices in this position are 2 Nf3 (the classical move), 2 Nc3 (the

Vienna Game), 2 f4 (the King's Gambit - which we would not recommend

for beginning players!), 2 Bc4 (the Bishop's Opening) and 2 d4 (the

Center Game). With 2 Nf3, White develops his king knight to its best

square, and attacks the Black e-pawn. This is more popular than 2 Bc4,

because against 2 Bc4 Black can play 2 ... Nf6, which attacks the White

e-pawn (as well as keeping the White queen from causing any trouble by

coming out to h5).

[DIAGRAM after 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6]

This is the position after 2 Nf3 Nc6. 2 ... Nc6 by Black is the most

common response. Other tries are 2 ... Nf6 (Petroff's Defence), 2 ...

d6 (Philidor's Defence) and 2 ... f5?! (the Latvian Counter-Gambit,

but we would prefer to avoid any move with our f-pawns). After 2 ...

Nc6, White could respond with 3 Nc3 (the 3 Knights Game, which would

probably turn into a 4 Knights Game after the reply 3 ... Nf6), 3 d4

(the Scotch) or 3 Bb5 (the Ruy Lopez - also called the Spanish). But,

playing the Italian Game, White plays the most direct attacking move,

3 Bc4. Now, aside from the fairly passive 3 ... Be7 (the Hungarian

Defense), Black has two main replies, 3 ... Bc5 and 3 ... Nf6.

The Giuoco Piano

[DIAGRAM after 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bc4 Bc5]

This is the starting position for the Giuoco Piano, which,

paradoxically, is Italian for "Quiet Game". The important point about

3 ... Bc5 is that Black obtains classical development with

counterattacking chances, and also, White cannot start the attack

against f7 with the move 4 Ng5? as Black's queen still controls that

square. After 3 ... Bc5, White has two main choices.

4 d3 introduces the Giuoco Pianissimo ("Very Quiet Game"). With 4 d3

White envisions the move Nf3-g5 as his queen bishop now defends that

square. However, if Black now plays 4 ... Nf6, then 5 Ng5 is not very

strong as Black will play 5 ... O-O, castling and defending the f7

point with his rook. This is a very important position to understand.

[DIAGRAM after 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bc4 Bc5 4 d3 Nf6 5 Ng5?! O-O]

The notation "?!" on 5 Ng5 indicates that it is a trappy, but not very

good move. After Black castles, if 6 Nxf7 Rxf7 7 Bxf7+ Kxf7, White has

captured a pawn and a rook, and Black has captured a bishop and a

knight. While this is an approximately even exchange, the activity of

Black's remaining bishops and knights is the important factor, giving

Black the better position.

Therefore, White should refrain from 5 Ng5 and instead play developing

moves like Bc1-g5, Nb1-c3 and castling, and Black will often do the

same. The symmetrical nature of the position is what gives it the name

"Quiet Game", but things can get pretty wild, depending on who can get

their attack going first, using the queen bishop on g5 (or, for Black,

g4), and then moving the queen knight into the center (d5 or d4) to

increase the pressure on the pinned piece.

For example, after 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bc4 Bc5 4 d3 Nf6 5 Nc3 d6 6 O-O

O-O 7 Bg5 [DIAGRAM], White's attack gets going first if Black

continues to copy with 7 ... Bg4. Then 8 Nd5! is strong, as 8 ... Nd4

9 Bxf6! gxf6 (or 9 ... Bxf3 10 Qd2!! gxf6 [10 ... Qd7 11 Qg5 and the

copier is finished after 11 ... Qg4 12 Ne7+ Kh8 13 Bxg7 mate!] 11

Qh6!) 10 Qd2!!

[DIAGRAM]

Here Black is in serious trouble because 10 ... Bxf3 fails to 11 Qh6!

and Nd5xf6+ cannot be stopped.

Going back to the previous diagram, after 7 Bg5, Black should not copy

with 7 ... Bg4?!, but instead should take defensive measures with 7

... h6! (it is almost always good to "question the bishop" like this

to try to weaken the pressure of the pin) 8 Bh4 Be6! The point of 8

... Be6 is to capture the White knight if it cruises into d5.

Another line of the Giuoco Piano is 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bc4 Bc5 4 c3.

[DIAGRAM]

This is the Moeller Variation of the Giuoco Piano. Here White aims to

play the move d2-d4 to push back the Black bishop, and hand-to-hand

combat can arise very quickly. The main line is 4 ... Nf6 5 d4 exd4 6

cxd4 Bb4+

[DIAGRAM]

with amazing complications. After 7 Bd2, Black should try to

neutralize White's center with 7 ... Bxd2+ 8 Nbxd2 d5! By hitting

White's bishop on c4 and pawn on e4 at the same time, Black forces an

exchange of pawns in the center. A more aggressive line for White is 7

Nc3, sacrificing the e-pawn! Then one line is 7 ... Nxe4 8 O-O! Bxc3 9

d5! (White has to do this, as 9 bxc3 d5! allows Black to get a stable

grip on the center while holding on to his extra pawn) Bf6 10 Re1! Ne7

11 Rxe4 and White's space advantage and potential attack make up for

his being a pawn down.

The 2 Knights Defence

[DIAGRAM after 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bc4 Nf6]

In the Two Knights Defence, the complications start even earlier, as

Black counterattacks the White e-pawn, but White is allowed to play

the fierce move 4 Ng5, which threatens to play 5 Nxf7, with a double

attack against Black's queen and rook!

After 4 Ng5 Black just about has to play the move 4 ... d5, shutting

off the pressure on the bishop's diagonal (there is one other move, 4

... Bc5, planning the crazy counterattack 5 Nxf7 Bxf2+, but this is

not recommended for players just starting out). Then after 5 exd5,

Black can play 5 ... Nxd5.

[DIAGRAM after 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bc4 Nf6 4 Ng5 d5 5 exd5 Nxd5]

Now White can play the dangerous knight sacrifice 6 Nxf7, known as the

"Fried Liver Attack". If White wants to just have a good position

without making any sacrifices, he can play 6 d4 instead, because 6 ...

Nxd4 7 c3! is very strong for White, as Black is losing a piece. And 6

... exd4 7 O-O just leaves White with many open lines for a strong

attack. Going back to the diagram position, the Fried Liver 6 Nxf7 is

also good. Play then continues 6 ... Kxf7 7 Qf3+ Ke6 (forced to defend

the knight on d5) 8 Nc3 and White has very strong pressure. One

amusing line is 8 ... Nb4 9 a3!? (notice that "!?" enterprising while

"?!" means dubious) Nxc2+ 10 Kd1 Nxa1 11 Nxd5! Kd6 12 d4! and White's

attack is very hard to deal with. Another line is 8 ... Ne7; here

again White gets strong pressure with 9 d4 c6 10 Bg5! with the idea of

castling queenside.

So is the Two Knights Defence a weak defence? Not at all - let's go

back to the position after 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bc4 Nf6 4 Ng5 d5 5 exd5

[DIAGRAM]

Here Black should play the move 5 ... Na5!, pushing the dangerous

bishop off the diagonal leading to the weak f7 square. Then after 6

Bb5+, Black plays 6 ... c6! 7 dxc6 bxc6. Although White is now a pawn

up, as Black has failed to recapture the pawn he lost when he played

... d7-d5, White's pieces have to retreat. Especially the wayward

knight on g5 no longer has any function there. The main continuation

here is 8 Be2 h6! (Black has to play this before White plays d2-d3 and

then retreats his g5 knight to e4) 9 Nf3 (Bobby Fischer experimented

with the bizarre 9 Nh3 here) e4!

[DIAGRAM after 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bc4 Nf6 4 Ng5 d5 5 exd5 Na5 6 Bb5+

c6 7 dxc6 bxc6 8 Be2 h6 9 Nf3 e4]

This displacement of the White knight is key to Black getting enough

"compensation" for the pawn that he is down. Compensation means

positional advantages that make up for a material deficit. Now after

10 Ne5 Black can choose between 10 ... Bc5, 10 ... Bd6 and 10 ... Qd4,

all of which give him reasonable chances.

Finally, we should note that in the Two Knights Defence, after 1 e4 e5

2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bc4 Nf6, White does not have to play the early raid 4 Ng5,

but he can also play the central attack 4 d4 exd4 5 e5 (or 5 O-O, the

Max Lange Attack), or he can play quietly with 4 d3, likely

transposing (after 4 ... Bc5) back into the Giuoco Pianissimo.

We hope that this tour of the Italian Game has proved both

entertaining and informative. Good luck in your games, and

remember to defend your f7 / f2 squares!