Chessmate

Italian Game

Giuoco Pianissimo, Core Setup (C50)

Claim central space and open lines for the bishop and queen. This is the starting point for the Italian setup.

0/13

Step through the line. Every move has a reason.

More courses in this opening

Continue through the Italian Game repertoire from another tabiya.

Italian Four KnightsDifficulty 3/3

White repertoire · ECO C55

Sample line with full explanations: Four Knights Italian, Bxd5.

Two Knights Defense for BlackDifficulty 3/3

Black repertoire · ECO C55–C58

Sample line with full explanations: Two Knights Defense, Castling Slip.

Two Knights Defense for WhiteDifficulty 3/3

White repertoire · ECO C55–C58

Sample line with full explanations: Polerio Defense, Bd3.

All lines in this course

ECO C41–C55

Every one of these lines is explained move by move in the app — with recall practice and spaced review.

Train this course
  1. Giuoco Pianissimo, Core SetupSample

    1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Nf6 5. d3 d6 6. O-O O-O 7. Re1

  2. Giuoco Pianissimo, Core Central Break

    1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. d3 Nf6 5. O-O d6 6. c3 a6 7. Bb3 h6 8. Nbd2 O-O 9. Re1 Ba7 10. Nf1 Ne7 11. Ng3 Ng6 12. h3 Re8 13. d4

  3. Giuoco Pianissimo, Re1 vs ...d5

    1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. d3 Bc5 5. O-O O-O 6. Re1 d5 7. exd5 Nxd5 8. Nxe5 Nxe5 9. Rxe5

  4. Giuoco Pianissimo, c3 vs ...Na5

    1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. d3 Bc5 5. O-O O-O 6. Re1 d6 7. c3 Na5 8. Bb5 a6 9. Ba4 b5 10. Bc2

  5. Giuoco Pianissimo, a4 vs ...a6

    1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. d3 Bc5 5. O-O O-O 6. Re1 d6 7. c3 a6 8. a4 Ba7 9. Nbd2

  6. Giuoco Pianissimo, ...Bg4 Reroute

    1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. d3 Bc5 5. O-O O-O 6. Re1 d6 7. c3 Bg4 8. h3 Bh5 9. Nbd2 Re8 10. Nf1 Ne7 11. Ng3

  7. Giuoco Pianissimo, Loose e5 after ...Na5

    1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. d3 Bc5 5. O-O O-O 6. Re1 Na5 7. Nxe5 Nxc4 8. Nxc4

  8. Open Giuoco, Greco-Møller (6.cxd4)

    1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Nf6 5. d4 exd4 6. cxd4 Bb4+ 7. Nc3 Nxe4 8. O-O Bxc3 9. d5 Bf6 10. Re1 Ne7 11. Rxe4

  9. Open Giuoco, Optional 6.e5 vs ...Bb6

    1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Nf6 5. d4 exd4 6. e5 d5 7. Bb5 Ne4 8. cxd4 Bb6 9. Nc3 O-O 10. Be3

  10. Open Giuoco, Optional 6.e5 vs ...Bb4+

    1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Nf6 5. d4 exd4 6. e5 d5 7. Bb5 Ne4 8. cxd4 Bb4+ 9. Bd2 Bxd2+ 10. Nbxd2

  11. Open Giuoco, Optional 6.e5 vs Dubious ...Ne4

    1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Nf6 5. d4 exd4 6. e5 Ne4 7. Bd5 f5 8. O-O

  12. Open Giuoco, Optional 6.e5 vs ...Ng4

    1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Nf6 5. d4 exd4 6. e5 Ng4 7. cxd4 Bb4+ 8. Nc3 O-O 9. h3 Nh6 10. Bxh6 gxh6 11. O-O

  13. Open Giuoco, Optional 6.e5 vs ...Nh5

    1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Nf6 5. d4 exd4 6. e5 Nh5 7. Ng5 O-O 8. Qxh5

  14. Two Knights Defense, Quiet d3 Setup

    1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. d3 Be7 5. O-O O-O 6. Re1 d6 7. c3

  15. Italian Game, Philidor Transposition

    1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 d6 4. d4 exd4 5. Nxd4 Nf6 6. Nc3 Be7 7. O-O O-O 8. Re1

  16. Hungarian Defense, Main Setup

    1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Be7 4. d4 exd4 5. Nxd4 d6 6. O-O Nf6 7. Nc3 O-O 8. Re1

  17. Hungarian Defense, Optional c3 Trap

    1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Be7 4. d4 exd4 5. c3 dxc3 6. Qd5 Nh6 7. Bxh6 O-O 8. Bxg7 Kxg7 9. Nxc3

  18. Italian Game, Early ...h6 and d4

    1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 h6 4. d4 exd4 5. Nxd4 Nxd4 6. Qxd4 c5 7. Qd5

  19. Italian Game, Early ...a6 Exchange

    1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 a6 4. d4 exd4 5. Nxd4 Nf6 6. Nc3 Bb4 7. Nxc6 dxc6 8. Qxd8+ Kxd8 9. f3

  20. Italian Game, Fianchetto Delay

    1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 g6 4. d4 exd4 5. Nxd4 Bg7 6. Nxc6 bxc6 7. Nc3

  21. Blackburne Shilling, Safe Center

    1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nd4 4. Nxd4 exd4 5. O-O d6 6. c3 dxc3 7. Nxc3

  22. Blackburne Shilling, ...Bc5 Mistake

    1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nd4 4. Nxd4 exd4 5. O-O Bc5 6. Bxf7+ Kxf7 7. Qh5+ g6 8. Qxc5

  23. Rousseau Gambit, ...Ng6 Main Defense

    1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 f5 4. d4 fxe4 5. Nxe5 d5 6. Bb5 Ne7 7. O-O a6 8. Bxc6+ bxc6 9. f3 Ng6 10. fxe4 Nxe5 11. dxe5 dxe4 12. Qh5+ g6 13. Qe2

  24. Italian Game, Greedy ...Qxe4 Trap

    1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Qe7 4. d4 exd4 5. O-O Qxe4 6. Re1 Qxe1+ 7. Qxe1+