Chess Opening Theory/1. e4/1...e5/2. Nf3/2...Nc6/3. c3/3...Nf6/4. d4

Jaenisch counterattack C44 Ponziani opening → Jaenisch counterattack 4. d4 With 4. d4, White ignores the attack on the e-pawn and counterattacks Black's central pawn on e5. Black's best moves are to choose a central pawn to capture, 4...exd4 or 4...Nxe4, though White has ways to recover the pawn. 4...d5 is also playable. Take the d-pawn 4...exd4 5. e5 kicks the f6 knight and prevents 5...Nxe4. This is a transposition into the Göring gambit declined by ...Nf6. Black then decides where to move their knight to: After 5...Nd5 6. Qb3 Nb6, White recaptures 7. cxd4 and the position is a toss up. White has two pawns in the centre but Black can begin to chip away at them with d6. After 5...Ne4 6. Qe2, Black must decided how to protect their knight. He either concedes the centre (e.g. 6...Nc5 cxd4++), or tries to hold onto their knight with d5 and f5 in either order. Both look counter-intuitive, as e5 taking en passant creates a pin on Black's knight and White is threatening f3 or Nbd6. This is indeed a problem after 6...d5!? 7. exd6 e.p. f5 8. Nxd4 Nxd4 9. cxd4 Bxd6 10. f3. 6...f5! instead was the recommendation of Lasker,Harding T D 0 87568 152 2 Ponziani Opening 1984 Chess Digest Inc. Dallas https://archive.org/details/ponzianiopening0000tdha/11-18 and creates some tactically interesting middle games with opportunities for both sides after 7. exf6 e.p. d5 and either 8. Nbd2 or 8. Nxd4. Take the e-pawn After 4...Nxe4, White is advised not to recapture on e5 straight away as 5. dxe5?Though 5. Nxe5 Nxe5 6. Qe2 may be playable. Bc5! (bishop and knight coordinate against f2) 6. Be3 Bxe3 7. fxe3 and Black's position is very pleasant. The traditional line is 5. d5, kicking the c6 knight away from protecting e5. After 5...Ne7 6. Nxe5 (White recaptures the pawn) Ng6 (d6? Bb5!) 7. Nxg6 hxg6 8. Bd3 the position is perhaps even. However, Black can answer 5. d5 with 5...Bc5, the Vuković gambit or Fraser defence, where Black's bishop and knight both target the f2 pawn. This gambits Black's knight for two pawns and leads to a very chaotic and cut-throat middle game: both Black and White must navigate a series of only moves to keep the game competitive. Therefore the engine-approved line is 5. Bd3, keeping the pawn on d4 to prevent ...Bc5. Other moves Other fourth moves for Black include 4...d5. This presents White with several options for how to proceed: 5. exd5?! still fails due to 5...Qxd5 and no Nc3 to chase it away. Taking the e5 pawn (5. dxe5 or 5. Nxe5) allows for some trades and the centre to open. 5. Bb5 is best for White here: pinning the c6 knight and so threatening Nxe5. 4...d6?!, to defend e5, is unambitious. It allows White to develop and defend their e4 pawn with Bd3, giving them the big centre they want unchallenged, and to kick the knight with d5. Theory table 4...Nxe4 5. d5 Ne7 6. Nxe5 Ng6 7. Nxg6 hxg6 Jaenisch counterattack + (Batsford'sKasparov Gary Keene Raymond 1986 First published 1982 Batsford Chess Openings London B.T.Batsford Ltd. 0 7134 2114 2 4th 299-300) 4. ... ... 5. ... Nb8 6. Nxe5 Bd6 7. Qd4 O-O 8. Qxe4 Bxe5 9. Be2 Re8 10. Qd3 d6 11. Be3 Na6 4. ... ... 5. ... Bc5 6. dxc6 Bxf2+ 7. Ke2 Bb6 8. Qd5 Nf2 9. cxb7 Bxb7 10. Qxb7 Nxh1 Vukovic gambit 4. ... ... 5. e5 Nd5 6. Qb3 Nc6 7. cxd4 + Göring gambit declined 4. ... ... 5. ... Ne4 6. Qe2 d5 7. exd6 f5 8. Nxd4 Nxd4 9. cxd4 Bxd6 10. f3 ++ 4. ... ... 5. ... ... 6. ... f5 7. exf6 d5 8. Nbd2 Qxf6 9. Nxe4 dxe4 10. Qxe4+ Be7 Lasker variation11-18 References See also Ponziani Opening Play the Ponziani Taylor Dave Hayward Keith 2010 Everyman Chess London 1 8574 4620 8