Italian - The Greco-Moller - Attack
1.e4 e5 2.Sf3 Sc6 3.Bc4 Bc5
The Italian Game, which arises after 3...Bc5, is one of the oldest chess openings. It is already mentioned in the 16th century "Göttingen manuscript".
In the centuries that followed, it was the most popular opening and owes its name to the masters of the Italian School, who favoured free piece play and combinatorial intricacies. For these reasons, the Italian opening, and in particular the Greco-Möller Attack, was a very popular opening in the days of romantic chess towards the end of the 19th century.
There are several plans available to White in the diagram position. One of the most aggressive, which leads to open positions with many tactical possibilities, is to seize the initiative in the centre early with 5.d4 after 4.c3 Nf6. 5.d4 is followed by an attack on the c5-bishop, Black's best bet is to exchange pawns with 5...exd4, but after 6.cxd4 White has a dangerous mobile pawn pair.
Black must already play very precisely here. The retreat 6...Bb6 would be bad because it would give the white centre pawns the opportunity to advance. Instead, 6...Bb4+ is obligatory to force White to react to the check. The moderate reply is 7.Bd2 Bxd2+ 8.Nbxd2, but this allows the central counter-attack 8...d5, so important in many open games, which breaks open the white centre by gaining tempo against the c4-bishop. After 9.exd5 Nxd5, all that remains of the "ideal" d4-e4 centre is an isolated pawn on d4. Nevertheless, both sides have many chances here.
Greco already favoured the gambit continuation 7.Nc3, which leads to tactically complicated positions in which White does not shy away from further material sacrifices.
After 7...Nxe4 8.0-0 Bxc3 Möller's 9.d5 is considered the best attacking move.
If Black knows their way around here, the theory even promises them an advantage. But if they haven't done their homework, they can go down with a bang.
Anyone who enjoys combinatorial piece play should definitely give this classic a try. The resulting positions offer fascinating possibilities and are an excellent tactical school.