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Guided lesson · Beginner · Openings

The Italian Game: the ideas

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The Italian Game is one of the oldest openings there is, and it's still one of the best for understanding what makes a good development: the bishop on c4 aims exactly at the enemy king's weakest point, and the c3-d4 plan builds a big center before the opponent can stop it. You'll see the full plan working well, and what happens when someone gets distracted halfway through.

The key idea

Bc4 aims at f7 from the very first moment. The plan is c3 (prepare) and d4 (break): open the center once the pieces are already developed.

Example 1 · The full plan

c3 prepares, d4 breaks, and with the pieces already out, the center opens without any trouble for either side.

  1. e4 Center.
  2. e5 Mirror.
  3. Nf3 Development with a threat.
  4. Nc6 Defense that develops.
  5. Bc4 The idea that gives the opening its name: the bishop aims straight at f7.
  6. Bc5 Black replies in mirror, eyeing f2.
  7. c3 The plan begins: this pawn prepares d4 without letting a knight get in the way from b4.
  8. Nf6 Black develops and attacks e4 along the way.
  9. d4 And here comes the break: the center opens with the pieces already out.
  10. exd4 Forced to trade: otherwise, they lose a pawn for nothing in return.
  11. cxd4 We recapture and rebuild the center, bigger than before.
  12. Bb4+ The black bishop has to move: staying on c5 meant losing the piece, because the pawn on d4 already attacked it. And before retreating outright, it throws in this check — a free tempo.
  13. Bd2 The only way to meet the check without losing anything: block with the bishop.
  14. Bxd2+ We trade bishops. With check, as a bonus.
  15. Nbxd2 We recapture with the knight that still needed developing. Two birds, one stone.
  16. d6 Black shores up its own center.
  17. O-O Castling.
  18. O-O And black closes its own castling. Big center, active pieces, safe king: that's what the c3-d4 plan looks like when it goes well.

Example 2 · The slip that costs the piece

Black ignores exactly the threat that just appeared with d4 — and it's not the only one that move creates.

  1. dxc5 d4 doesn't just open the center: it also attacks the bishop on c5. If you go off to grab a pawn on the other side of the board and forget about that, the bishop is left without an owner. Piece won, with no complications behind it.

Practice

Your turn with White. Execute the plan: develop, then c3-d4 to break the center.

  1. Center. Start with the center: e4.
  2. Development with a threat. Knight to f3, attacking e5.
  3. There's the idea of the Italian: the bishop aiming at f7. Bring the bishop out to the diagonal aimed at f7.
  4. The plan begins: this pawn prepares d4. Prepare the central break: pawn to c3.
  5. And there's the break. The center opens with your pieces already out — the full plan, executed by you. Break the center: pawn to d4.

The Italian's plan, from start to finish: the bishop aiming at f7 from the beginning, and c3-d4 to break when the time comes. This is playing with ideas, not from memory.