What do you think of the Italian Game?

Since I've gotten more serious into chess and on this website (only a few weeks ago), my primary opening for white (while I've messed around with the English and, to a much lesser extent, d4) is e4, and after 1... e5 2. Nf3 Nc6, I have entered the Italian game.  I've liked it so far because the bishop is immediately pointing down at the f7 square, and I've been able to follow up with the Fried Liver attack, Evans Gambit, or d4 (which happens most of the time, when players play h7 or d6, so if this is a bad response please let me know - also, I've never played 4. c3, is that bad as well?).

But recently I've read in a lot of places that for 1. e4 e5, the Ruy Lopez is the strongest opening for white and that at top level play the Italian game is much less common.  So my question to you all is what is your opinion of the Italian game?  Is it really so weak that I should I attempt the Ruy Lopez?

No, it's not "really so weak that you should attempt the Ruy Lopez."  The Italian stands in good stead at the GM level, and some lines offer the club player much more attractive and tactical options than the Ruy, which is far more positional and subtle.

The Italian may be LESS common at the GM level, but is far from UNcommon.  The Fried Liver is uncommon; indeed, practically unheard of.  But at least in large part because black would never play down those lines.  If you play the Ng5 lines against the two knights as white, you'll see a whole of of 4...d5, 5.exd5 Na5.  The Evans comes up occasionally at that level.

But mostly, the Italian at the GM level is played with two lines:

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3, intending a later d3.

and

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. d3.

Both lead, more often than not, to positional games with similarities to a closed Lopez.  White has a choise of strategic plans involving queenside expansion, or a knight walk to the kingside, followed by a slow buildup of a kingside attack.

For high-level examples, see the games of GM's Tiviakov, Movsesian, and Bauer.

But to be fair, yes, the Ruy gets a whole lot more support at the Super-GM level.  So is it observably the "strongest?"  Yeah, probably.  Should this matter if the Italian gets plenty of love from 2600's and beyond?  Not to us mortals.  I daresay the Italian'll remain plenty strong for the rest of your chess career.

For the club player, the only reason to possibly prefer the Ruy is that it has a much deeper tradition in chess literature, if studying the legends playing your preferred openings is of particular benefit to you.

italian game rocks! evan's gambit is amazing. i even like the fried liver as well.

in general it's an open and attacking position. i personally don't like c3 in the quiet game because it's to slow for me. i never really liked the ruy lopez too much.

i've recently moved to the scotch game instead (d4 instead of Bc4) because it opens the game up more, and i can usually play Bc4 fairly soon anyway and get some similar positions to the italian in some respects.

EDIT: btw, if you like the italian game, check out some paul morphy games. he's the man when it comes to the italian (especially evan's gambit)!

here's one of my favorites:

whenever i play the italian game, i have the evans gambit or the fried liver/lolli up my sleeve!

and yes, if your opponent plays 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 h6(?!), d4 is the appropriate response.

15 years ago, I had the very same questions.
I started off in my early days fiddling the Italian.
But I always heard that the Spanish (Ruy Lopez) was the "best" way to go.
So I did a little research...

The Italian game was played by all of the "romantics" in the old days.
It thrived for a very long time.
And it led to many brilliant, flamboyant victories for White.

Because of its popularity, it was studied profusely.
And because of this, masters began looking for other ideas as White.
The boom of the Spanish game came after that of the Italian.

I believe it is usually agreed that the Spanish game provides White the longest initiative.
He is constantly pressing forward, even if just slightly.
And Black remains on the defensive for a long period of time.
It is often a slow, positional struggle.

In contrast, White quickly aims for the throat (f7) in the Italian and is willing to sacrafice pawns and pieces to get there.
It can often lead to a bloody, but thrilling mess.

The two openings can lead to extremely different types of games.

So one day I asked a master player which one I should play.
And his advice was very meaningful.
He told me that it didn't necessarily matter which one was "best".
He said the most important thing is that each player uses an opening that he enjoys.
One that matches his style of play.
Because, in reality, we are only going to play our best in an opening that we love playing.

15 years later, I can tell you that I have enjoyed every single Italian game that I have played.

Good luck.
And endjoy the journey.

--CM

Italian game is very thoroughly analyzed at the GM (or booked up master, for that matter) level. In many of these super sharp 1.e4 e5 romantic openings the GM with Black knows how to exchange away the attack and burn the opening down to a drawn endgame position (again, this for strong players who really know how to draw endgames). So, the Italian game isn't unsound at the highest level, just drawish, and most GMs most of the time are looking for a win when they play white.

Ruy Lopez isn't exactly better really just a lot more complicated... with a lot more playable sidelines, more opportunity for creativity, and at the highest level a lot more winning chances... for either side.  Ruy Lopez gives a strong player with the Black pieces excellent chances to win! The old saying about Ruy Lopez is that it's an opening where the stronger player wins.

But as wonderful as that sounds if you aren't real strong, and in touch with the subtleties of the Ruy Lopez and the way it looks toward the endgame from early in the middlegame in many lines... well, the RL can be a bit dry, for us non-masters.

The Italian game kept the entire chess world (including the very best players) highly entertained for the entire 19th century and produced many masterpieces... there's plenty there to discover for the ordinary player! And AFAIK the Traxler countergambit is alive and well in high level play, too.

Book up a little on sharp italian lines for white and you can roll over beginners in blitz like you're Paul Morphy ;)

What works (or not) for booked up 2700+ super GMs has little, oh so little, relevance to a c-player blitz game (or an expert blitz game for that matter)! 

There's absolutely nothing wrong with either the Italian Game or the Spanish. I can only wish that I get Black to play e5, Nc6, Bc5!; I would play e4 and go for the Evan's Gambit if I could get this...at a higher level, more experienced players tend to respond to 1) e4 with the Sicilian most of the time. Someone here (on this site) tried to claim that the Evan's Gambit is refuted; if you look at the Fisher|Fine game, you can see that it is not...and not to mention the Paul Morphy game.

the italian game is my favourite!

I'm a great fan of sitting outside cafes, drinking espresso, and making lewd remarks at every vaguely attractive woman who walks by, yes.

The italian is my primary, and while I agree that the Spainish is probably technically stronger, your opponent is likely to be better prepared for it.  The italian offers some sharp lines after both 3...Nf6 and 3...Bc5, which you should easily be able to make yourself more ready for than other opponents at your level.  At my level (roughly the poster's), I find it to be a solid and enjoyable opening.

Not a lot. They were lucky to get a draw due to dodgy defending from Paraguay.

Then again, they said the same about the Italian in the opening stages last time round, and it proved to have a formidable middlegame, tied to a creaky-yet-effective endgame.

Wow, thanks for all the responses and the games that were posted.  I'll probably stick with e4 and the Italian game until I get the urge to practice with d4 somewhere down the road.  Also, if someone could explain why Sokolov and Anand resigned, I'd appreciate it.  For some reason I just don't see it.

Also, if someone could explain why Sokolov and Anand resigned, I'd appreciate it.  For some reason I just don't see it.

Sokolov is about to lose a piece -- he'd like to recapture with Rxe5  but his Q is hanging. If he plays Qxc3, white plays Rxe8+ first before capturing the Queen.

Anand's position is much less clear, but the attack along the e-file is very strong and creates a bind (the Queen can't leave the B, nor can the K) ...and Black has no good way of preventing White from playing Bf3 which not only adds to the attack on the e-file but attacks the b7 pawn too ( and White has Rb1 coming). Black has no counterplay. And the guy playing White is Kasparov...

Whenever an Italian game falls into my lap as white I prefer the evan's gambit for a "need a result" game and the greco piano for all else.

Outstanding examples of the Italian Game! I'll take the time to download all of the pgn files. Thank you!

If 1.e4 c5 were not so popular, then I would go back to playing 1.e5 in blitz play. I'm a beginner and don't do well against 1...c5. 1.d4 seems to solve a lot of problems right now, even though I could get more tactical training with 1.e4.

With that said, I will sometimes play 1.e4. If my opponent plays 1.e5, then I hammer Black with the Scotch. The Scotch really mystifies my beginning/novice rated blitz opponents. I usually come out of this opening with an advantage.

I think the Scoth is fun and the italian can easily turn into a london