Hello everyone, I want to open a (new?) debate, open for everyone who like the theory and/or who plays theses systems as Black.
After 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.d3, do you prefer to play 4..Bc5 transposing into a classical Italian, or do you prefer to keep an independant play, maybe more in the spirit of the 2 Knights, like 4..Be7?
What do you think is the funniest, or the most easy to play to equalize or playing for a win?
My toughts about it: (I am mostly a Sicilian player but I'm getting interested again by 1..e5):
Firstly I think that both moves are good and should give an equal game to Black.
4..Be7 might be more coherent with Black's repertoire than 4..Bc5 because if the black side wanted to put the bishop there, why didn't he put it on move 3?
An answer could be:
- Black don't like to play 3..Bc5 because of the gambit Evans 4.b4, or because of 4.c3 Nf6 5.d4, or something else but would prefer to play 3..Bc5 only against a slower setup with d3.
Another response could be:
"I play the 2 knights because it is less symetrical and it is sharper than 3..Bc5 but I can't play very sharply against 4.d3, and the bishop looks more active and natural than on e7, so I prefer to play 4..Bc5 which transpose into the classical Italian"
(here too I would like to know why you generally prefer 3..Nf6 to 3..Bc5)
There might be other possible answers, but now I will try to imagine why the black side prefer 4..Be7:
"I don't like when it looks too symetrical" or "I stay with my independant play" or "I want to play a system close to the black side of the Ruy Lopez", and yes, 4..Be7 which seems less natural and active here might be more secure there, it's a square that he likes in the Ruy Lopez, and an idea could be to play d5 soon.
The type of play is like a slow Ruy Lopez, and there can be real transpositions with the Ruy Lopez where White played d3.
So, is it easier and funnier to play in the Italian territory or in the pseudo Ruy Lopez territory? It is surely a question of taste but I eant to know your reasons, experiences and toughts about this subject
PS: Some of you might prefer to play 4..h6 or 4..d5, are they good? Do you play that? Why?