Chess Opening Moves

Learn basic Chess Opening Moves and improve your game.

You should know how to handle the opening moves of the Italian Game which is well known among club chess players.

1. e4 e5
2. Nf3 Nc6
3. Bc4 Bc5 (instead of Nf6)

Popular set up

White plays c3 to control d4 and will preserve his bishop c4 later on (Bb3).

Most often played is the positional approach above, where White plays c3, d3. He wants to preserve his white-running bishop and retreats it to b3 as he will be able to retreat further to c2, if the knight attacks it. If you don’t play Bb3 the bishop will be attacked by the knight and traded off as Blacks plays Na5 and trades off the active bishop after that.

Chess openings – Ruy Lopez vs Italian Game

You can replay chess games of the Italian Game below. This will show you how the pieces are placed and what kind of ideas are realized. I selected some grandmaster games for you. Watch how they play.

Replay Games of the “Italian Game”

Flip Board: Press F-Key (or click e7 or d2 on top) Select a game: Click on grey bar