Italian Variation

The Italian Variation combines the Italian bishop on c4 with the Four Knights setup. The given order comes from the Two Knights Defense, but the same position also arises from 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bc4. White looks well placed: the bishop aims at f7 and castling is one move away. Below master level it is the most frequent fourth move in the Four Knights, while strong players generally avoid it because of a tactical resource for Black.

That resource is 4...Nxe4, a pseudo-sacrifice known as the center fork trick. After 5. Nxe4 d5 the pawn attacks both the bishop and the knight, and the usual continuation 6. Bd3 dxe4 7. Bxe4 restores the material balance. Black is then the side with more space and active central play. Engines rate the position as level and list 4...Nxe4 as their first choice, and Black scores markedly better than White after it in online games. Jan Pinski judged 4. Bc4 inferior, and Larry Evans considered it an outright mistake.

The most common reply in practice is 4...Bc5. It keeps the symmetry and leads to the quiet Giuoco Pianissimo. White players who want that structure can reach it without allowing the fork trick through the Giuoco Piano order 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. Nc3 Nf6. A third option is 4...Bb4, which pins the c3 knight and adds pressure on e4. Results after this move are close to even.

After 4...Nxe4, White's alternative to recapturing is the Noa Gambit, 5. Bxf7+. It gives up the bishop pair and the center for a king hunt that rarely lasts. After 5...Kxf7 6. Nxe4 d5 7. Neg5+ Kg8, Black already threatens ...e4. Following 8. d3 h6 9. Nh3 Bg4, the king is safe, the light-squared bishop has no counterpart, and Black holds a strong central pawn pair.

The variation was popular in the 1880s before its reputation declined. In modern elite play it has appeared only occasionally, for example when Nigel Short used it successfully against Antoaneta Stefanova in 2003.