I answered to

emary wrote on 01/18/22 at 23:34:52:


Whether Black's extra options are acceptable for White is for every individual him/herself to decide.
As for

Quote:

I think this pointless. 1.e4 e5 equalizes anyway. The correct question (given the title) is rather: "against Black's best options, would I still want to play this?" Even with a subjective approach I think the lines I referred to crucial.

It isn't, as discussed on this forum many years ago. 1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Nf6 3.d3 Bc5

a)4.Nc3 c6 5.f4 d5 or exf4 6.Bxf4 d5
b)4.Nf3 d6 5.Nc3 c6 and White's playing against his/her own system while 5.c3 c6 is too slow for White to break the symmety in an advantageous way.

For the best treatment of 3.d4 exd4 4.Nf3 I refer to

https://www.ianchessgambits.com/urusov-gambit-declined.html

I did find this course from September 2021 from Chessable:

https://www.chessable.com/butcher-1-e5-the-bishops-opening/course/77100/

But wow! U.S. $170 for the full thing. Lots of good reviews, but also a very aggressive and pushy blurb. Any have experience with it?

Thank you, emary!

It looks like a great resource for a more traditional approach to the Italian. And by a SGM too!

One quibble from me however: one reason I like 2.Bc4 is it side-steps the Petroff & Philidor. So I am more focused on the best current resources on that line, often called the Bishop's opening or Italian/Bishop's. The listing on the site for "Variation Details" doesn't even list it as a choice, but in the blurb it teases, "When to violate 'knights before bishops." Perhaps others know more detail about it?

Thanks!

Greetings,

I already have Emm's Starting 1.e4 e5 as well as Tiviakov's Italian/Bishop's DVD from Chessbase. I've only dipped into the vid but now wish to get more serious. I fell for the "dull", 'no advantage" propaganda re: The Italian and had put it aside. I am comfortable with Tiviakov's stiff but thorough style. I am comfortable with 2. Bc4 as White. But being a loyal and grateful ChessPub member I have learned the 1st thing you do when considering any opening is?,...Check the Forum!

In particular this thread:
Quote:


It was very informative; being encouraging of the Italian/Bishop's in general and confirming I, by dumb luck, had picked the right DVD. There was praise of Emm's Beating 1e4 e5 as a good intro. However there was also discussion of newer updates in play such as Black push ..,d7-d5, as well as a2-a4. But the last post on that thread was over 4 years ago. I'm posting to ask if Emm's Besting 1.e4 e5 is still the preferred intro book for the Italian/Bishop's game? What about the 2 books by Kravtsiv, are they relevant or veering into other territory? And finally, that older thread mentioned a video by Saric that, IIRC covered some of what was missing in Emm's book. Is that this one?

Quote:


There seem to be multiple sources. It's 2022. For pursuing the Ital./Bishop's opening today would you still recommend Emm's Beating 1e4 e5 and the Tiviakov and Saric vids as per above? Or what else? I do not have a full Chessbase sub if that matters.

TIA,

Cathexis