Polerio Defense - Feedback, Input and Help

An old study of mine about it, I used to play it a lot. Yes, it's memorization, too hard and engine-like tbh.

https://www.chess.com/forum/view/chess-openings/welcome-to-the-polerio-defense-of-the-italian-game

https://www.chess.com/forum/view/chess-openings/the-new-and-improved-fried-liver-attack

@PolerioExpert said in #5:

@MrPushwood that's what I thought aswell, but I haven't found one
if you find a modern book about it please let me know

The only book I know about is Estrin's (but how state of the art do you have to get with such an ancient opening?).

@kindaspongey okay thanks for the recommendation, I may check it out. However, I think it's a really bad example, because running it through stockfish analysis and confirmed my intuition that it was just a blunder and nothing more. Actually Rf1 and white is fine. Bf3 was just a really bad move... I personally might have even considered Bf1 or Bxg6 instead of what white played here. It's a strange middlegame play, but nothing wrong with the opening.

However you gave me a new line I need to go into depth: I didn't analyse 8. ... Nd5 9. ... Bd6 yet - I only analysed Bd6 and Nd5 alone, but not together, but that's actually a mainline aswell. Thanks.

@scarpentus thanks a lot for your post! That's actually the best way to learn the opening - by looking at suggestions for black and then prepare to refute them as white. If you have time, I would very much appreciate if you could take a look at my studied lines and tell me what I should prepare against, as you seem to have studied it. I only play Bd3 against Polerio, no Qf3 or Be2. And yes it is sort of the mainline.

@Nisko1234 h6, Ba4 are both inaccuracies or mistakes and Qf3 is also not the variation I play. Also I cannot agree that the Polerio favors black, it's just dead equal. White has material, black has iniative. Well it's a gambit. I would be happy if you knew any interesting games or advice for the Bd3 variations I listed in my study. Also I'm happy to play some games against you.

@MrPushwood it's important to have passion for the game and if Ng5 or King's gambit or Vienna gambit are needed, although refuted to achieve that I'm doing it :) Chess is art to me and that's why I play Ng5 and not d3 or sth. Do you mean "1983: by Yakov Estrin- The book covers all lines, concentrating on the theoretically critical variations."? - that's a time where engines didn't even exist - and the Polerio is an engine-heavy opening...