A chess game is usually divided into three phases: the opening, middlegame, and endgame. In the opening phase, each player develops and sets up their pieces. In the middlegame, they plan attacks, execute different tactics and strategies to gain an advantage and weaken their opponent. In the endgame, there are usually few pieces left on the board, and each player tries to win using certain techniques and piece coordination.
In this handbook, you'll learn about opening traps for the Italian Game, which is one of the most played openings in chess.
When learning about openings, you're usually taught some basic principles, like:
Control and fight for the center.
Develop pieces.
Castle the king early.
Connect the rooks.
Don’t bring the queen out early.
Avoid unnecessary pawn moves, and so on.
These principles are easier said than done. Many beginners focus too much on implementing them and fall for obvious traps. That’s what this handbook will help you with.
Learning about an opening is as important as learning the common mistakes associated with each opening. You can learn a chess opening to improve your tactics and strategy, understand how to develop your pieces, and understand how to spot certain mistakes early so you can avoid them or take advantage of them.
This handbook will focus on those opening mistakes and how to take advantage of them when playing as white.
You can watch the video version of this handbook here:
Table of Contents
How to Use this Handbook
This handbook makes use of notations and images. If you understand chess notations, then you can follow along without relying on the images. If you're new to notations, I'd recommend reading the What are Notations in Chess? chapter of this handbook.
In order to follow along, you should have a board with you. You can use either a physical board or an online chessboard. You can use Lichess for your online chessboard. Under the Tools section, you should see a couple of board related tools that you can make use of.
I would not recommend reading through without practicing. The best way to understand certain concepts is to try them out yourself.
And remember, improving in chess takes time and effort, so don't feel bad if you don't automatically start seeing gains. Focus on understanding and practicing first, and if you're doing that the right way, you'll gradually start progressing.
What This Handbook Will Teach You
This handbook will teach you some opening traps when playing the Italian Game as white. The overall purpose is for you to see common opening mistakes and how to take advantage of them. Even though you'll play as white in this case, you'll also learn why your opponents fall for these tricks, and that should help you avoid them when playing as black.
So, this is not an Italian Game opening handbook where we'll analyze lengthy games from start to finish. This is solely for beginners who want to understand why certain traps occur occasionally and why they always fall for them. You can learn something useful with this handbook irrespective of the color you play as.
What This Handbook Will Not Teach You
This handbook will not teach you how to follow basic opening principles to a tee. Sometimes, in order to win early and gain an advantage early in the game, you have to play unconventionally. These unconventional moves may prevent you from following certain principles.
You’ll not learn deeply about piece placement or pawn structure. These concepts are part of this handbook but we won’t focus much on them.
This guide will also not make reference to popular or model games. That is, won’t not make use of or analyze games that have been played by masters in the past. So, I won’t be explaining key moments from specific games.
Traps
Chess isn't scripted, so if you rely on your opponent to fall for certain tricks because you played the "right" moves from a course, then you may lose a lot of games. The traps here should not be seen as a conventional way of playing openings. It's important that you understand the concept behind the moves, as this will help you adjust your gameplay against anyone who knows how not to fall for traps.
In summary, don't memorize lines to use against opponents. Understand the concept and strategies first. Doing that will help you improve your tactics/strategy, and make it easier to spot similar positions in different games.
Let's get started!
The Italian Game
The Italian Game is a very popular chess opening used by players across all levels of chess. The opening allows you to quickly develop your pieces and move them to active positions, and gain control of the center.
The Italian Game starts with these lines:
e4 e5
Nf3
Bringing the knight to f3 attacks the pawn on e5, which leads to black playing:
- ... Nc6
This defends the e5 pawn.
- Bc4
Finally, the bishop is moved the c4, and here's what the position looks like:
When you reach the position in the image above, you've entered the Italian Game opening. Let's analyze white's position.
White has developed two minor pieces and a pawn, and has made way for castling and protecting the king early in the game. White is not wining yet, but that could quickly change depending on what black plays.
- ... Bc5
This position leads to a variation of the Italian Game known as Giuoco Piano, and it’s played very often. In fact, it’s the most played variation of the Italian Game. We’ll start with that variation in the next section.
How to Create Traps in the Italian Game
In this section, you'll learn some common traps for the Italian Game. We'll start with the Giuoco Piano variation.
Game #1 - Giuoco Piano
Here's the starting position of the Giuoco Piano variation:
- c3
Moving the pawn to c3 provides support for the d-file pawn, which can threaten the bishop on c5 and gain control of the center.
- ... Nf6
With that, the black knight threatens to capture the pawn on e4 and clears the way for castling.
Here's our current position:
What should you play here? Well, this section is about tricks. The safest move here would be d3 – this keeps things balanced, protects the e-pawn, and allows you to continue developing your pieces. But we're not going for a balanced or safe development.
- d4
This move forces black to capture on d4. If black chooses to move the bishop to a different square like Bb6, then we'll have something like 6. dxe5 Ng4, 7. Bxf7+ Kxf7, 8. Ng5+ Ke8. Black can't castle at the moment, as white is trying to gain more control of the center and can easily start attacking from the kingside. So retreating with the bishop isn't a good move for black. Although black can move the bishop to other squares and have a different outcome, white still gains an advantage.
... exd4
cxd4
That brings us to this position:
Again, retreating with the bishop puts black at a disadvantage. For example, 6. ...Bb6, 6. ...Bd6, or 6. ...Be7 will simply allow white to start attacking with the pawns in the center of the board. The worst move here would be 6. ...Bf8, which both blocks black from castling and allows white to start attacking from the center.
The best move for black would be to check the king:
- ... Bb4+
This is a crucial point for the trap. The safest move here is 7. Nd2. This protects the king and keeps the game balanced. But again, we're not playing it safe this time.
- Nc3
Let's look at the position visually:
This position gives black a slight advantage. In order to set the perfect trap for your opponent, you may have to sacrifice some of your pieces and give them some false advantage. This doesn't mean that every trap will work – so make sure to evaluate your position well before taking chances.
With Nc3, white gives up the e4 pawn. This position is known as the Greco's Gambit. The main purpose of the move is to lure your opponent into capturing the e4 pawn with its knight.
- ... Nxe4
This is a common response. Without getting rid of that pawn, white can start attacking with the pawns and make black's opening a bit difficult. So how do you respond? Remember, we're playing a gambit, which involves sacrificing a piece, usually a pawn, in the beginning of the game in order to gain an advantage.
Since black has accepted the gambit by capturing that pawn, we can continue with the plan.
- O-O
Now that the king has been safely castled, a couple of things have changed:
The knight on c3 is no longer pinned to the king, and if black castles, it'll lose the e4-knight. The best move here for black is to capture with the bishop. This is something you should always remember when playing as black in this position. White starts gaining some advantage if black captures with the knight, and that's what we'll use to learn about the trap here.
... Nxc3
bxc3 Bxc3
We've managed to lure black into the trap by sacrificing more pieces. Black is threatening the a1-rook, but we're not going to try and save it. Since the purpose of a gambit is to gain advantage, we must capitalize on doing just that. If you try saving the a1-rook, then black will simply castle and you'd be in a slightly losing position.
- Ba3
This prevents black from castling the king. Here's what the current position looks like:
White already has more advantage in this position and is giving up the a1-rook. If black decides to block the a3-bishop with 10. ...d6, then black would lose its bishop after 11. Rc1 Ba5 12. Qa4 Bd7 13. d5 Nd4 14. Qxa5. This is another variation you can learn, in case black doesn't capture the bishop. But don't rely on these to always work – you're better off understanding the strategy behind these attacks than trying to replicate them all the time.
- ... Bxa1
This is the moment we've been waiting for all along.
- Re1+
Black can only defend the king with the knight or the queen. Neither of those moves will make black's position any better. Naturally, defending with the knight would be the first option (although I would suggest resigning if you're playing as black in this position against a player who knows what they're doing).
- ... Ne7
As white, you can either play 12. Bxe7 or 12. Rxe7. The former would lead to a black losing its queen after 12. ...Qxe7, 13. Rxe7+.
- Rxe7
The best option for black would be to lose the queen by capturing the e7-rook. Not that it gives black any sort of advantage, but it's better than moving the king to f8. If your opponent plays 12. ...Qxe7, then you can capture the queen with Bxe7, forcing the king to capture back on e7. At that point, your trap would have served its purpose: you've taken your opponent's queen, delayed their opening development, and their king can no longer castle. For you, your king is safe and you have enough minor pieces and your queen to win the game.
- ... Kf8
Here's our current position:
The light squared bishop has been sitting on c4 since the game started. It's finally time for it to join and support the attack.
- Rf7+
White checks the black king, forcing it back to e8. The king cannot capture the rook because it’s protected by the bishop on c4. No matter what black plays at this point, the game will end in two moves. If black plays:
- ... Kg8
Then the game ends with a double check:
- Rf8#
If black plays this instead:
- ... Ke8
Then white can respond with a check, forcing the game to end:
Qe1+ Qe7
Qxe7#
This game showed how placing your pieces on certain squares can help you gain an advantage later in the game. For example, white's light squared bishop seemed insignificant until it was needed to end the game. Placing the bishop on c4 is where the Italian Game starts and that bishop can become very troublesome for your opponents if they don't defend properly.
Here's a replay of the moves, along with the notations:
e4 e5
Nf3 Nc6
Bc4 Bc5
c3 Nf6
d4 exd4
cxd4 Bb4+
Nc3 Nxe4
O-O Nxc3
bxc3 Bxc3
Ba3 Bxa1
Re1+ Ne7
Rxe7+ Kf8
Rxf7+ Ke8
Qe1+ Qe7
Qxe7#
Game #2
Here's our starting position again:
e4 e5
Nf3 Nc6
Bc4 Bc5
Nc3 Nf6
d3 d6
Bg5
Nothing much has happened here. Both sides have focused on developing their pieces so far and the game is still balanced. Here's our current position:
The common move here for black is usually h6, and that is probably the best move. Most players don’t want to worry about the bishop pin when they want to move the queen or the f6-knight, so it's usually a good idea for them to start pushing the bishop away.
... h6
Bf6
With this move, white forces the black queen to capture on f6:
- ... Qxf6
Now white can start setting a trap. Here's the current position of the board:
- Nd5
This forces the queen back to d8. If the queen moves to e6, it'll be forked with 9. Nc7+. If the queen moves to g6 in order to put pressure on the kingside, the knight can fork the king and rook on c7 as well. So the best move for white would be moving back to d8.
... Qd8
c3
Now white is trying to take more control of the center.
- ... Be6
Black attempts to add pressure in the center while developing a minor piece. But this move allows white to move on with some traps. It’s not very evident to see with the current position:
d4 exd4
cxd4
Black can play a couple of moves here, but none of them really leads to an advantage. If black plays 11. ...Bb4+, then you'd have something like 12. Nxb4 Bxc4 13. Nxc6 bxc6 14. Qc2 Be6 15. Qxc6+ Bd7 16. Qc3. White comes out of the situation with more control of the center and a pawn up. This is the safest route for black. The alternatives, as you'll see in the following moves, will lead to black losing at least one minor piece.
Here's our current position (we'll revert back to this position to see other variations for the traps later):
Variation #1
- ... Bb6
The bishop retreats to avoid getting captured by the d4-pawn, but this is a blunder.
- Nxb6
Now black is down a piece. If black plays Bxc4, then the b6-knight will simply capture on c4. So black is forced to take the b6-knight. The reality is that, no matter what black plays in this position, it's going to be down by at least one minor piece.
... axb6
d5
Here's our current position:
If black chooses to move either the knight or bishop away from the pawn fork, then it'll lose the other. But the knight can attack on a5, right? Well, let's see how that pans out for black.
... Na5
Bd3
Now, can black safely move the bishop away and save both pieces that were under threat? Unfortunately, the knight is now trapped. So, right from when the pawn fork happened, one piece was "destined" to leave the board.
... Bg4
b4
Now, no matter what black plays next, the a5-knight will be captured. Here's the position:
That concludes things for this variation of the trap. Here's a replay of the first variation of the trap and the notations:
e4 e5
Nf3 Nc6
Bc4 Bc5
Nc3 Nf6
d3 d6
Bg5 h6
Bxf6 Qxf6
Nd5 Qd8
c3 Be6
d4 exd4
cxd4 Bb6
Nxb6 axb6
d5 Na5Bd3 Bg4
b4
Variation #2
Now, let's go back to the position that started the first variation:
If black decides to capture the d5-knight, here's what will happen:
... Bxd5
exd5
Which brings us to this position:
Two of white's minor pieces are now under attack and one will eventually be captured. If black plays:
- ... Bb4+
Then you'll have something like this:
Kf1 Ne7
Qa4+ Qd7
Qxb4
Black ends up losing the bishop. Here's a replay of the moves above, along with the notations:
e4 e5
Nf3 Nc6
Bc4 Bc5
Nc3 Nf6
d3 d6
Bg5 h6
Bxf6 Qxf6
Nd5 Qd8
c3 Be6
d4 exd4
cxd4 Bxd5
exd5 Bb4+
Kf1 Ne7
Qa4+ Qd7
Qxb4
Game #3 – Legal's Mate
The Legal Trap is one that allows you to capitalize on your opponent's mistakes in the opening phase of the game. With this trap, the game ends after eight moves.
Note that the trap may not work against intermediate players. Most of the moves that lead up to the mate are all bad moves and you won’t often see that many bad moves in row.
As usual, here's the starting position of the Italian Game:
e4 e5
Nf3 Nc6
Bc4
- ... d6
This is black's first bad move. The d6-pawn now prevents the development of the dark squared bishop. Beginners often make this mistake because they want to strengthen the support on the e-pawn and use the light squared bishop to pin white's knight.
- Nc3 Bg4
Here's the position so far:
Black pins the white knight and can decide to put more pressure by bringing the knight to d4 next.
- h3
White attempts to push the bishop back. In this position, moving the bishop back to e6 would be best for black. But most beginners would want to maintain the pin on the knight.
- ... Bh5
Black moves back but continues pinning the knight. This is where white attempts to end the game by giving up the queen.
- Nxe5
Here's the current position:
- ... Bxd1
Black goes for the queen without seeing white's plan.
Bxf7+ Ke7
Nd5#
The game ends in eight moves.
This is not a checkmate pattern you'll see often, but it's important to understand how it works. Positions like this can appear at any time, so you should focus more on understanding why the pieces were moved to certain squares instead of memorizing the lines.
I know I’ve mentioned this before, but it's crucial to repeat it here because if you try to use the Legal's Mate as your main strategy from the beginning of the game, then you'll most likely encounter difficulties.
Here’s a replay of the move, along with the notations:
e4 e5
Nf3 Nc6
Bc4 d6
Nc3 Bg4
h3 Bh5
Nxe5 Bxd1
Bxf7+ Ke7
Nd5#
Game #4
This particular trap is one that many beginners fall for. The aim is to allow your opponent to think they're getting a free pawn, but then they either lose the game or a minor piece.
e4 e5
Nf3 Nc6
Bc4 Bc5
c3 Nf6
d4 Bb6
In this case, black decides not to capture the d-pawn. That move gives white an advantage in the opening, because it can start attacking with the pawns in the center. Here's the current position:
- dxe5
This move is where most beginner players mess up. They assume that the e4-pawn is up for grabs. The moment black captures that pawn, then the knight will be trapped. But it's not just that. Here:
... Nxe4
Qd5
The queen move threatens a checkmate on f7 if black tries to saves the knight. There is really nowhere for that knight to go, so you're better off saving your king with 7. ...Qe7 if you're playing as black in this position.
Here's a replay of the moves, along with the notations:
e4 e5
Nf3 Nc6
Bc4 Bc5
c3 Nf6
d4 Bb6
dxe5 Nxe4
Qd5
Game #5 - The Fried Liver Attack
The Fried Liver Attack is one of the most common tricks played by beginners. Many amateur players fall for this trick because it creates tension at the beginning of the game.
Here's what the position of the Fried Liver Attack looks like:
e4 e5
Nf3 Nc6
Bc4 Nf6
Ng5
The most commonly played move here is d5. If you play anything else as black, then 5. Nxf7 will fork the queen and the rook.
- … d5
And we have this position:
- exd5 Nxd5
The 5. …Nxd5 play is one I wouldn’t recommend for most beginners playing as black. It can lead to some complicated situations.
- Nxf7
Now black has no option other than to capture the f7-knight, which now prevents the king from castling later in the game. If black ignores the knight, then it’ll lose either its queen or rook.
… Kxf7
Qf3+
The problem now is that the king is being forced to move closer to the center of the board and protect the knight on d5. Remember, one of the opening principles in chess is to castle your king early, but black can no longer do that.
If black decides to move the king backwards, let’s say 7. …Kg8, then the game will end in three moves: Bxd5+ Qxd5 9. Qxd5+ Be6 10. Qxe6#. If black moves to e8 instead, then white can capture the knight on d5 and black still wouldn’t be able to castle.
- … Ke6
This is not a completely losing position for black, but it’ll be easier for white to put more pressure on the king, and if black doesn’t play very well, the game could end. With the king in the center, white can add more pieces to the attack:
- Nc3
The knight now threatens the black knight as well.
… Nb4
O-O c6
Here’s the current position:
As you can see, white has more advantage: the black king can no longer castle and is close to the center of the board. The white king has castled and is safe, and white can focus on developing its pieces while black has to find a way to prevent a checkmate or losing the knights.
It’s still possible for black to win in the situation, but this can become very complicated, especially for beginners.
Here’s a replay of the moves, along with the notations:
e4 e5
Nf3 Nc6
Bc4 Nf6
Ng5 d5
exd5 Nxd5
Nxf7 Kxf7
Qf3+ Ke6
Nc3 Nb4
O-O c6
Game #6 - Anti-Fried Liver Defence
From our last game, here’s the setup for the Fried Liver Attack:
e4 e5
Nf3 Nc6
Bc4 Nf6
Ng5
Since many beginners struggle with the tension created from the Fried Liver Attack, they try to avoid it completely from the beginning of the game. So, some might play h6 as their third move to prevent the white knight from moving to the g5 square. That is:
e4 e5
Nf3 Nc6
Bc4 h6
Which leads to this position:
d4 exd4
Nxd4
This is where white sets the trap. Black should continue developing minor pieces and castle the king. A move like 5. ...Nf6 would work for black. But some people may want to double the attack on the d4-knight in order to push it back:
- ... Bc5
Bxf7+ Kxf7
Qh5+ Kf8
Qxc5+
With these moves, black no longer has the option of castling and the kingside looks weaker.
Here's a replay and the notations:
e4 e5
Nf3 Nc6
Bc4 h6
d4 exd4
Nxd4 Bc5
Bxf7+ Kxf7
Qh5+ Kf8
Qxc5+
Conclusion
This handbook showed you some of the most common beginner traps for the Italian Game. Although we saw most of the traps from the perspective of white, it can also help you defend against them when playing as black.
Opening moves in chess can be quite tricky. You may decide to stick with opening principles by developing your pieces, trying to control the center, and castling early. But, along the way, you may miss obvious mistakes and fall for your opponent’s traps.
You shouldn’t learn chess openings in order to replicate everything you see in various courses. Instead, you should try and understand why certain moves were made and their outcome. That way, you can improve your tactics and strategy and be able to recognize similar positions in other games.
I hope this handbook has been helpful for you on your chess journey. You can find me on Lichess @ IHECHIKARA.
You can watch the video version of this handbook here.