The Italian Game
Submitted by
Pawn_mower on Sun, 03/16/2008 at 5:17pm.
The Italian Game is one of the oldest openings. It is not often seen in Master games but in chess clubs. However, this game is a great beginner opening to study and play. Perhaps one of the best games in the history of chess is Steinitz vs. Von
Bardeleben in Hastings 1895. I have studied this game extensively and it is absolutely brilliant. Stenitz was the first World Champion and his brilliance really shows by his tactics in this game. I am now playing some practice games with the Italian game. Today I played against my Phantom Chess opponent (robotic chess) on an easy level and beat it. Ok, it's nothing to brag about, but I was happy to think through every move and try to maintain the initiative. Check out the following game and my annotation.