A complete repertoire against the Italian.

Introduction

I always had problems finding a good response against the Italian, I did not understand the move orders, the plans, and the ideas behind the positions.

But most importantly, I had no fun playing the classical variations.

So last summer I decided to change everything by finding a new line to confront the Italian, and without knowing it, it was one of the best chess decisions I ever made.

The line I chose was the g6 Italian, a very rare but venomous line.

And it paid off : on lichess, in a total of 144 games, I won 60% of my games and only lost 37% of them. Masters are also having great results in EVERY variations I will cover.

In this blog, I will give an overview of the opening by explaining the plans and ideas and covering all the important variations.

If you want to see all the analysis, the model games, and the exercises, go to my lichess study :

There is a ton of valuable material in this study.

A quick presentation of the 3...g6 variation

The g6 variation is a little sideline of the Italian. By playing g6, I can guarantee you at 100% that your opponent is going to be surprised.

In terms of results, it is one of the strongest lines, and even players like Abdusattorov (peak elo: 2769) or Mamedyarov (peak elo: 2820) have tried it multiple times.

The positions that are arising from the g6 Italian are very similar to king's indian type of positions and structures.
So the play is very dynamic and aggressive. Black is mostly going to play for an attack against the opponent's king.
But of course, black has a multitude of plans available, depending on the position.

White, on the other hand, should play on the queenside in response to black's kingside attack.

But to be honest with you, most of the time white is just getting completely confused, especially in blitz and rapid games.
All the knowledge they learned about the Italian is suddenly useless in these positions, and they start playing random moves.

SO PLEASE, don't take the theory too seriously, as most of the time, until the 2000 level, white is going to play random moves.
You will then have a dominant position. This is why I had such great results in this opening.

Also last one very important thing : don't trust the computer !
Maybe some of the positions I will show you are giving white a +0,9 advantage, but that means nothing.

Why ? Because it is an unbalanced position, the position is double-edged and complicated, so it is tough for humans (and especially non-masters) to understand these positions.

So, for your study, please turn off the computer and try to understand by yourself instead of wasting your time looking at the evaluation bar.

How to learn this opening ? (depending on your level.)

1000-1300 (beginner): You need to understand the basic ideas of this opening. Read one time my blog and go through my study.
Play my upcoming tournament (see last chapter) or play some games (with the g6 line), and you will know more than enough to play this opening until 1400 elo.

1400-1700 (intermediate) : You need to know the first moves (around 6/7 first moves) of each important variation. Read my blog and my study two times and take some notes.
Play my upcoming tournament (see last chapter) and analyze the games you played. Once you get right at every one of my memorization exercises, you will be 100% ready until at least 1800.

1800-2100 (advanced) : You need to know the master games well. So analyze with precaution (not only reading) the model games in the study and try to remember all the important plans and moves that were played.
Try to be able to know a game for each variation. Play my upcoming tournament (see last chapter) and analyze the games you played. You will then outplay every opponent in this opening until 2200.

2200-2500 (master) : Basically, you need to know the study "by heart." Now the moves in every variation, now the master games (not by heart but the important plans and moves), and have experience by playing my tournament and some rapid games (don't forget to analyze them afterwards). You will then be ready until 2500 elo.

PS : Of course, if you are rated 1800, for example, you have to know the requirements for the beginner and intermediate levels.

The main line :

The main line is actually not the most played.
I chose to name it the main line because it is the critical and most dangerous line for black.
White is grabbing as much space as he can, which can become disturbing for non-experienced players.
But don't worry, black has some strong counterplay ideas, like in the king's indian defense.

Here are the full explanations :

The 4. d4 line :

The d4 line is the most chosen line by white and by far.
But it's actually not the most challenging one for black. Black is not getting into trouble in this variation, as white will not be able to get a strong center and active pieces. The game is more balanced.

The only "problem" for black in this variation is that it will be almost impossible for him to launch a traditional attack on the kingside. But don't worry, black has a lot of good other plans.

The 4. d3 line :

The d3 line is a "particular" line. If black knows it, he will get a very comfortable position out of the opening, but if he doesn't know the variation, he will get into some troubles.

White's idea is to immediately target the black f7 pawn with the g5 knight and the c4 bishop.

The 4. Nc3 line :

This is one of the most inoffensive lines for black.
White isn't really trying to stop black's plans and is just developing normally.

Sidelines :

There is one sideline (but it's very rare, in 144 games, I only confronted twice once) that is quite tricky for black and has to be analyzed.
It is the immediate and very aggressive h4.

When should you use this opening ?

Some players may ask themselves when they should use this opening and until which level.
My answer is : There are no limits.

I played this opening all the time now for more than a year and had great results. (I even reached almost 2100 fide with it !)

You can also use it as a secondary weapon to surprise your opponents. But I won't recommend it to any player below 2100 because it's already difficult enough to know one variation.

If you already have one variation you play and that you prefer, I advise you to play the g6 Italian sometimes in blitz just to "spice" up your games and have fun.

Also, I think this opening is good for every level until International master as world-class players have tested it with success and all the variations are leading to good positions for black.

How to practice this opening ?

So there are multiple ways to practice this opening, here is a complete list :

1. Play my upcoming thematic g6 Italian tournament. All you have to do is join my team and join the next tournament.
The tournament is going to take place on Saturday, August 24, at 5 p.m. (Central European Time; 8:30 p.m. in India, 6 p.m. in Moscow, and 11 a.m. in New York).

2. Find an opponent who is learning the same variation or plays the Italian. You can use the forum below to try to find an opponent.

3. Play against the computer in the beginning position of the g6 Italian. All you have to do is go to the lichess board edition, put the right position, and go "continue from here" at the right bottom. Choose then the time control and the level of the computer.

Conclusion :

The g6 Italian is one of the most underrated variations, it leads to exciting double-edged positions. Say goodbye to the annoying maneuvering play in the classical variations and hello to the attacking games in the g6 Italian.

I am happy to make my job popularizing this variation because I had a lot of fun playing it, and I hope you will too.

Don't forget to like the blog and follow me, it would help me a lot.

Thank you very much.
-Syltstonks