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Chess Opening Tutorial : Two Knights Defense and Giuoco Piano

By Mark Weeks, About.com

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3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Ng5 d5 5.exd5

On 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Ng5, is Black really forced to sacrifice a Pawn? In fact, there are several other reasonable moves after 4...d5 5.exd5, shown in the diagram.

The most obvious move is 5...Nxd5. Here Black has to defend against a strong attack.

  • 6.Nxf7, is called the Fried Liver Attack (or 'Fegatello' by highbrows). A logical continuation is 6...Kxf7 7.Qf3+ Ke6 8.Nc3 and now 8...Ncb4 or 8...Nce7. Most players don't like having the King in the center when all the pieces are still on the board.

  • 6.d4 is called the Lolli Attack. White sacrifices nothing and keeps Black under pressure.
Another possibility is 5...b5, known as Ulvestad's Variation. The continuation 6.Bf1 Nd4 (not 6...Nxd5) was found to be playable in a famous World Championship correspondence game Estrin - Berliner from the mid-1960s. The variations are long, tactical, and complicated.

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