The Semi-Italian Opening (also known as Half Giuoco Piano, Lesser Giuoco Piano, and Paris Defence) is one of

Black Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...

's responses to the

Italian Game The Italian Game is a family of chess openings beginning with the moves: :1. b:Chess Opening Theory/1. e4, e4 b:Chess Opening Theory/1. e4/1...e5, e5 :2. b:Chess Opening Theory/1. e4/1...e5/2. Nf3, Nf3 b:Chess Opening Theory/1. e4/1...e5/2. Nf3 ...

.Hooper & Whyld (1996), p. 365. ''Semi-Italian Opening''.Kasparov & Keene (1982), pp. 308, 309. It begins with the moves: :1. e4 e5 :2. Nf3 Nc6 :3. Bc4 d6 Black's intent is to play a

Hungarian Defense The Hungarian Defense is a chess opening that begins with the moves: :1. b:Chess Opening Theory/1. e4, e4 b:Chess Opening Theory/1. e4/1...e5, e5 :2. b:Chess Opening Theory/1. e4/1...e5/2. Nf3, Nf3 b:Chess Opening Theory/1. e4/1...e5/2. Nf3/2...Nc ...

with an early ...Bg4, fighting for control of the d4-square.Harding & Botterill (1977), pp. 129–30. The line was tried by

Alexander Alekhine Alexander Aleksandrovich Alekhine. He disliked when Russians sometimes pronounced the of as , , which he regarded as a Yiddish distortion of his name, and insisted that the correct Russian pronunciation was . (March 24, 1946) was a Russian ...

early in his career.Horowitz (1964), pp. 39–41. The first recorded use in international competition was in 1846. I. A. Horowitz called the defence "", also writing: "It does not seem quite sufficient for ." The ''

Encyclopaedia of Chess Openings The ''Encyclopaedia of Chess Openings'' (''ECO'') is a reference work describing the state of Chess theory#Opening theory, opening theory in chess, originally published in five volumes from 1974 to 1979 by the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugos ...

'' code for the Semi-Italian is C50.

Lines

Main line: 4.c3

* 4...Bg4 5.d4 Qe7 6.Be3 Nf6 7.Qb3 Nd8 8.Nbd2 g6 9.dxe5 and White was slightly better in

Grigory Levenfish Grigory Yakovlevich Levenfish (; – 9 February 1961) was a Soviet chess player who scored his peak competitive results in the 1920s and 1930s. He was twice Soviet champion, in 1934 (jointly with Ilya Rabinovich) and 1937. In 1937 he drew a m ...

– Alexander Tolush, Leningrad 1939. * 4...Qe7 5.d4 g6 or 5.0-0 g6 is satisfactory for Black (Alekhine). * 4...Be6 is preferred by

Savielly Tartakower Savielly Tartakower (also known as ''Xavier'' or ''Ksawery'' ''Tartakower'', less often ''Tartacover'' or ''Tartakover''; 21 February 1887 – 4 February 1956) was a Polish chess player. He was awarded the title of Grandmaster (chess), Internatio ...

4.d4 Bg4

After 4...exd4 5.Nxd4 Nf6 6.Nc3 White has the freer game according to

Paul Keres Paul Keres (; 7 January 1916 – 5 June 1975) was an Estonian chess grandmaster and chess writer. He was among the world's top players from the mid-1930s to the mid-1960s, and narrowly missed a chance at a World Chess Championship match on five ...

, and instead of 5...Nf6, Larry Evans has suggested 5...g6 The move 4...Be7 transposes to the

. *5.c3 and now: ** 5...Qd7 and White has some after either 6.d5 or 6.Bb5 (Keres), or 6.Be3 (Evans). ** 5...Nf6 6.Qb3 with a clear advantage for White (Keres). ** 5...Qf6 6.Be3 Bxf3 7.Qxf3 with some advantage for White (Keres). ** 5...Qe7 transposes to the Main line. *5.h3 and White is slightly better, for example 5...Bxf3 6.Qxf3 and now: ** 6...Nf6 7.d5 (

Wolfgang Unzicker Wolfgang Unzicker (26 June 1925 – 20 April 2006) was one of the strongest German chess Grandmasters from 1945 to about 1970. He decided against making chess his profession, choosing law instead. Unzicker was at times the world's strongest ama ...

). ** 6...Qf6 7.Qb3 Nd8 8.dxe5 dxe5 9.Be3 Bd6 10.Nc3 Ne7 11.Nb5 a6 12.Nxd6 Qxd6 13.0-0 Qc6 14.f4! and White had the attack in

Viktor Gavrikov Viktor Nikolaevich Gavrikov (; 29 July 1957 – 27 April 2016) was a Lithuanian-Swiss chess player. He was awarded the title of Grandmaster by FIDE in 1984. Gavrikov shared first place with Gintautas Piešina in the 1978 Lithuanian Champions ...

– Evgeny Vladimirov, USSR 1978 (Unzicker).

4.h3

White prevents Black's thematic ...Bg4. The reply 4.h3 leads to lines similar to the Hungarian Defense, for example 4... Be7 5. d4 and now: * 5...Nf6 6.d5 Nb8 7.Bd3 0-0 8.Be3 a5 9.g4!? (Keres preferred 9.c4) Na6 10.Qd2 c6 11.c4 Nd7 12.Nc3 Ndc5 leading to a game with balanced chances in Viktor Kupreichik–Podgayets, USSR 1970. * 5...Nxd4 6.Nxd4 exd4 7.Qh5 g6 8.Qd5 Be6 9.Qxb7 Nf6 10.Bxe6 fxe6 11.Qc6+ Kf7 12.Nd2 Qd7 13.Qc4 c5 14.0-0 d5 ( Gyula Sax–

Borislav Ivkov Borislav Ivkov (12 November 1933 – 14 February 2022) was a Serbian chess Grandmaster. As one of the most decorated players in the history of Chess Olympiad, Ivkov was a World championship candidate in 1965, and played in four more Interzonal t ...

, Amsterdam 1976) with an even game (Unzicker).

4.Nc3

This transposes to the game Maslov– Anatoly Lutikov, USSR 1963, which continued 4...Bg4 5.h3 Bxf3 6.Qxf3 Nf6 7.Ne2 (or 7.d3) and White stands slightly better (Keres, Miroslav Filip). For 5...Bh5, see Légal Trap.

Notable games

Rodzinski vs. Alekhine, Paris 1913: 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 d6 4. c3 Bg4 5. Qb3 :5.d4, the Main line, is better. 5... Qd7 6. Ng5 :6.Bxf7+ Qxf7 7.Qxb7 Kd7 8.Qxa8 Bxf3 9.gxf3 Qxf3 10.Rg1 Qxe4+ 11.Kd1 Qf3+ 12.Ke1 Qe4+ with

perpetual check In the game of chess, perpetual check is a situation in which one player can play an unending series of checks from which the defending player cannot escape. This typically arises when the player who is checking feels their position in the game i ...

(Alekhine); or 12...e4 13.Na3 Ne5 14.Qxa7 Nd3+ 15.Kf1 with an even game according to Veniamin Sozin, but Black with 15...Qd1+ 16.Kg2 Nf4+ 17.Kg3 Qf3+ 18.Kh4 Qh3+ 19.Kg5 Ne6. 6... Nh6 7. Nxf7 Nxf7 8. Bxf7+ Qxf7 9. Qxb7 Kd7 10. Qxa8 Qc4 11. f3 (diagram) Bxf3 12. gxf3 Nd4 13. d3 :13.cxd4 Qxc1+ with clear advantage for Black. 13... Qxd3 14. cxd4 Be7 15. Qxh8 Bh4#

References

Bibliography * * * * * {{Chess, state=collapsed Chess openings