Instead of attacking Black's e-Pawn as in the Ruy Lopez, White can attack Black's sensitive Pawn on f7.
This shouldn't be done by playing Qh5, which exposes the Queen to an attack by ...Nf6, but rather by Bc4, which develops a minor piece at the same time that it attacks f7.
White can play 1.e4 e5 2.Bc4, but a more popular continuation is
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 as in the diagram.
Now Black has two excellent continuations.
- 3...Nf6 : Two Knights' Defense
- 3...Bc5 : Giuoco Piano
For more about the diagrammed position, see
Italian Game
in our Repertoire Recommendations.
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