Openings

The Italian Game: a beginner’s guide

Updated Jul 27, 2026 · 5 min read

Learn the Italian Game (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4): the ideas, the modern Giuoco Pianissimo, the Two Knights Defense and Black’s counterplay, with diagrams.

The Italian Game is one of the oldest and most popular openings in chess, and one of the best to learn from. It teaches the three principles that apply to any opening: control the center, develop your pieces and protect your king. If you are starting out, start here.

The opening moves:

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4

The basic Italian position after 3.Bc4.

The idea behind the moves

Every move has a reason. With 1.e4, White grabs the center and opens lines for the bishop and queen. 2.Nf3 attacks the e5 pawn and develops a knight to an active square. 3.Bc4 aims the bishop at f7, Black’s weakest square early on, because only the king defends it.

The main plans

After 3...Bc5, Black mirrors the idea, and we reach the "Giuoco Piano" (the quiet game). From there, White has two classic plans:

Slow plan (d3, c3, castle): build a solid center and prepare the d4 break later. Safe and positional.
Aggressive plan (early c3 and d4): open the center quickly and use the lead in development to attack.

A typical continuation of the solid plan:

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

Both sides have developed and castled. A balanced, rich position.

The modern Giuoco Pianissimo

From club level to the world elite, today’s Italian almost always takes the slow road. After 3...Bc5 White plays d3 instead of d4 and leaves the central tension standing. The idea is easy to state and unpleasant to face: keep the pawns on e4 and d3, finish developing without trading anything, and open the game only once every White piece stands better than its counterpart. This is the Giuoco Pianissimo, the very quiet game.

The plan follows an almost fixed order. From the previous diagram, the typical continuation is 7.Re1 a6 8.Nbd2 Ba7 9.h3 h6 10.Nf1 Re8 11.Ng3. The knight tour from b1 to d2, f1 and g3 is the signature of the variation: it frees d2 for the c1 bishop and lands on g3, where it supports f5 and joins a kingside attack. Notice that White has not opened a single line yet. That is deliberate.

The Pianissimo setup after 11.Ng3: nothing traded, the knight heading for f5, and the c1 bishop finally free.

Re1: props up e4 and prepares pressure down the e-file the moment the center opens.
Nbd2, Nf1, Ng3: the core maneuver. The knight trades a passive square for g3 or f5 and unblocks the c1 bishop on the way.
h3: takes g4 away from Black’s bishop and knight and gives the king air.
a4: the right answer to ...a6. It stops ...b5, which would gain space and kick the c4 bishop with tempo.

The Two Knights Defense (3...Nf6)

Instead of 3...Bc5, Black can play 3...Nf6. The difference is one of attitude. With 3...Bc5 Black copies White, accepts the symmetry and bets on outmaneuvering the opponent. With 3...Nf6 Black ignores the bishop staring at f7 and hits the e4 pawn at once, forcing White to commit early. This is the Two Knights Defense, and it usually produces a far more concrete game, with material on the line early.

White has two honest routes. 4.d3 returns to the quiet game and transposes into Pianissimo structures. 4.Ng5 is the ambitious move: it attacks f7 a second time and demands an immediate answer. And Black’s correct answer is not to defend f7, it is to counter in the center with 4...d5.

The main line of the Two Knights:

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. Ng5 d5 5. exd5 Na5 6. Bb5+ c6 7. dxc6 bxc6

After 5.exd5 the natural 5...Nxd5 is exactly what White is hoping for. That is why the main line runs 5...Na5: Black hits the c4 bishop before even thinking about winning the pawn back. Black stays a pawn down for a while, but the g5 knight runs out of a job, the pieces come out fast, and the half-open b and d files usually repay the investment.

A trap to know

When Black does recapture with 5...Nxd5, the Italian’s most famous trap appears: the Fried Liver Attack, 6.Nxf7. The knight gives itself up to drag the king off e8 and push it all the way to e6 after 6...Kxf7 7.Qf3+ Ke6, stranded in the middle of the board with Black’s pieces still at home. Do not memorize the line; understand the mechanism: two pieces piling onto a point that only the king defends.

Black’s counterplay

Playing Black in the Italian is not about waiting for the attack to arrive. Three resources show up in nearly every game, and recognizing them changes how you play from both sides.

The ...d5 break: as long as White’s center is d3 and e4, the ...d5 push is Black’s freeing blow, and it almost never works straight away. Prepare it with ...Re8 and ...c6, then push. A premature ...d5 opens lines for whoever finished developing first, and that is usually White.
The ...Na5 maneuver: the knight leaves c6 to hit the bishop on c4, White’s best piece. Without a4 or the Bb3 retreat, White either loses time or allows the trade. Once Black gets in ...Nxb3, the piece behind every f7 trick leaves the board.
The ...h6 move: it kills Ng5 for good and forces a white bishop on g5 to choose between retreating and trading on f6. It costs a tempo, but tempo is cheap in a closed position: in the 3...Bc5 lines with d3, an early ...h6 almost always pays.

The order matters more than the choice: ...h6 before the knight reaches g5, ...d5 after the pieces are ready. Reversed, the same two moves hand over the center and the king.

Why play the Italian

It teaches the fundamentals: center, development and king safety.
It leads to natural positions, without forcing you to memorize 20 moves.
It works for both the quiet game and the sharp attack.
It is played from beginners to world champions, so it grows with you.