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A couple of months ago, I posted my first article and video on the Ponziani-Steinitz Gambit and recently, I’ve just so happened to play the two most common responses by White on consecutive rapid games.

In the beginner-intermediate level when playing with the Black pieces, it is extremely common to face-off against the typical Italian opening – e4 e5 Nf3 Nc6 Bc4. In other blog posts, I’ve written that I get some sense of dread, at least previously, as I seemed to inexorably play into a positional game of the Giuoco Piano, or the Giuoco Pianissimo, which just isn’t my style of game even though it is extremely solid.

So, my approach now after my opponent’s Italian opening, I play the Two Knights Defense with Nf6. Effectively, I’m baiting my opponent to attempt the beginning of Fried Liver Attack with an aggressive immediate forward knight move (Ng5), so that I can launch the Ponziani-Steinitz Gambit (Nxe4), the unexpected capture of the e4 pawn by the knight, seemingly leaving it hanging. In the Lichess community database, the Gambit is the only move from this position that gives a greater than 50%-win advantage to Black.

On move 5, White has basically three options, only one of which is good.

• Nxf7: White ignores the gambit, and pushes on with the Fried Liver, seemingly forking Black’s queen and rook. This is a mistake – Black’s win advantage goes to over 60%. Qh4 immediately threatens mate, and Black has a massive attack on White’s king that isn’t easy to navigate.
• Nxe4: White looks at the hanging knight and accepts the gambit. However, this is also a mistake as d5 immediately forks the knight and bishop. Black wins back the material, and potentially has reasonable control of the centre.
• Bxf7: this is the Achilles heel of the Ponziani-Steinitz Gambit, and some opponents will find or know this move. White is around +1.50, forces Black’s king to move (losing the ability to castle), and the position is tricky for Black. Basically, chess will just need to be played.

In the two games I played, my opponent played Nxf7 in the first game, and Nxe4 in the second. Although I absolutely didn’t play the most accurately in either game, the advantage I gained from the opening carried through to victory.

Game 1: https://www.chess.com/game/live/50503128711

[Event "Live Chess"]
[Site "Chess.com"]
[Date "2022.07.02"]
[Round "?"]
[White "tuuwayameru"]
[Black "vitualis"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C57"]
[WhiteElo "1210"]
[BlackElo "1209"]
[TimeControl "1800"]
[EndTime "5:21:23 PDT"]
[Termination "vitualis won by checkmate"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. Ng5 Nxe4 5. Nxf7 Qh4 6. g3 Nxg3 7. fxg3 Qe4+ 8. Qe2 Qxh1+ 9. Qf1 Qxf1+ 10. Kxf1 d5 11. Bxd5 Bh3+ 12. Kf2 Bc5+ 13. Kf3 O-O 14. Ke4 Rxf7 15. Bxf7+ Kxf7 16. Nc3 Bg2+ 17. Kd3 Rd8+ 18. Kc4 Rd4+ 19. Kxc5 b6+ 20. Kb5 a6+ 21. Kxa6 Nb4+ 22. Kb5 Bc6# 0-1

Game 2: https://www.chess.com/game/live/50543334317

[Event "Live Chess"]
[Site "Chess.com"]
[Date "2022.07.02"]
[Round "?"]
[White "mwggoggi"]
[Black "vitualis"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C57"]
[WhiteElo "1229"]
[BlackElo "1218"]
[TimeControl "1800"]
[EndTime "16:48:21 PDT"]
[Termination "vitualis won by checkmate"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. Ng5 Nxe4 5. Nxe4 d5 6. Qf3 dxc4 7. d3 Nd4 8. Qd1 f5 9. Bg5 Be7 10. Bxe7 Qxe7 11. Nec3 Be6 12. Na3 b5 13. dxc4 b4 14. Nd5 Bxd5 15. cxd5 bxa3 16. b3 Qc5 17. Rc1 Qxd5 18. O-O O-O 19. c3 Nf3+ 20. Qxf3 Qxf3 21. gxf3 Rad8 22. Rc2 Rf6 23. Re1 Re6 24. c4 c5 25. Re3 Rd1+ 26. Kg2 Rg6+ 27. Kh3 Rdg1 28. f4 Rh6# 0-1