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The Bishop’s Opening (1. e4 e5 2. Bc4) is a potentially tricky opening to play against with the Black pieces. The way I avoid most of the traps is to play (2… Nc6) as it invites White to transpose immediately into an Italian (3. Nf3) which is their best move, and the most frequent response by White is to go back into the Italian at the beginner-intermediate level.

However, this is where we can use some psychological reasoning! By playing the Bishop’s Opening, White is trying to play a trappy line. I move the game into the Two Knight’s Defense and often, White will play (Ng5), the Knight Attack, trying to move into the Fried Liver Attack. However, they are less likely to be very strong in the Fried Liver Attack having not simply led with it and so, liable to making a mistake against my counterattack with the Ponziani-Steinitz Gambit!

My (4. Nxe4) is technically a mistake at [+2.6], but I felt it likely that White will not be familiar with the gambit and push on with the Fried Liver. And that’s exactly what happened! White plays (5. Nxf7), falling for my trap with the evaluation dropping to [-0.4]. However, this evaluation can only be maintained if White plays perfectly, and it’s very difficult to do so after (5… Qh4)! Indeed, after thinking for two-and-a-half minutes, White decides on (6. g3), a common response that is a blunder [-5].

White attempts a counterattack but it doesn’t work. They go on to lose both rooks, their two developed minor pieces, and finally their queen with a royal fork on move 21. Suffering emotional damage, White resigns on move 22. GG!

The big takeaway from this game is to consider moving opponents playing tricky openings down lines you have familiarity and counterattacking with a trap of your own! Psychological brinksmanship as a strategy can suggest winning tactics and lines in parallel with objective evaluation.

Game on chess.com: https://www.chess.com/game/live/84716551709

[Event "Live Chess"]
[Site "Chess.com"]
[Date "2023.08.02"]
[Round "-"]
[White "amozasp"]
[Black "vitualis"]
[Result "0-1"]
[Timezone "UTC"]
[ECO "C57"]
[ECOUrl "https://www.chess.com/openings/Italian-Game-Knight-Attack-Ponziani-Steinitz-Gambit"]
[UTCDate "2023.08.02"]
[UTCTime "11:56:57"]
[WhiteElo "1249"]
[BlackElo "1384"]
[TimeControl "900+10"]
[Termination "vitualis won by resignation"]
[StartTime "11:56:57"]
[EndDate "2023.08.02"]
[EndTime "12:15:31"]
[Link "https://www.chess.com/game/live/84716551709"]
[WhiteUrl "https://www.chess.com/bundles/web/images/noavatar_l.84a92436.gif"]
[WhiteCountry "116"]
[WhiteTitle ""]
[BlackUrl "https://images.chesscomfiles.com/uploads/v1/user/3711094.f52a0759.50x50o.ab18600a8723.png"]
[BlackCountry "17"]
[BlackTitle ""]

1. e4 {[%clk 0:15:04.4]} 1... e5 {[%clk 0:15:06.7]} 2. Bc4 {[%clk 0:15:13.4]
Bishop's Opening [+0.1]. A potentially tricky opening.} 2... Nc6 {[%clk
0:15:13.5] This is probably the best way of avoiding Bishop's Opening traps as
it invites White to transpose immediately into an Italian, which is their best
move, and the most common response by White at the beginner-intermediate level.}
3. Nf3 {[%clk 0:15:09.1]} 3... Nf6 {[%clk 0:15:20.6] Two Knights Defense} 4. Ng5
{[%clk 0:15:13.1] And not uncommonly, White, who is in a tricky move, will
attempt the Knight Attack, the beginning of the Fried Liver Attack. However, as
they didn't just lead with the Fried Liver Attack, the likelihood is that they
are more likely to play inaccurately, which give us an advantage with tricky
lines of our own $1} 4... Nxe4 $5 {[%clk 0:15:28.7][%c_effect
e4;square;e4;type;Interesting;persistent;true] Ponziani-Steinitz Gambit $1 It's
technically bad [+2.6], but often times very good in practice $1} 5. Nxf7 $2 {[%clk
0:15:14.6][%c_effect f7;square;f7;type;Mistake;persistent;true] And the lesser
experienced Fried Liver Attack player falls for the trap $1 [-0.4]} 5... Qh4 $1
{[%clk 0:15:34.4][%c_effect h4;square;h4;type;GreatFind;persistent;true]} 6.
g3 $4 {[%clk 0:13:40.7][%c_effect g3;square;g3;type;Blunder;persistent;true]
Common response, that is a mistake/blunder [-5]} 6... Nxg3 {[%clk 0:15:39.8]} 7.
Qf3 $6 {[%clk 0:12:54.2][%c_effect
f3;square;f3;type;Inaccuracy;persistent;true][%c_arrow
f2g3;keyPressed;none;from;f2;opacity;0.8;to;g3;persistent;false][%c_highlight
g3;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;g3;persistent;false] This is an
interesting aggressive approach. It is technically worse than just capturing the
knight [-6.2], but not massively so and creates complications.} 7... Nxh1 {[%clk
0:15:34.9] Stockfish thinks that trading the knight for the bishop is better
than capturing the rook, but the difference isn't large in evaluation [-5.5]} 8.
Qxh1 $6 {[%clk 0:12:54.6][%c_arrow
f7h8;keyPressed;none;from;f7;opacity;0.8;to;h8;persistent;false][%c_highlight
h8;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;h8;persistent;false][%c_effect
h1;square;h1;type;Inaccuracy;persistent;true] This was an inaccuracy [-7.3] as
the advantage previously was with having the queen in an active position} 8...
Bc5 {[%clk 0:15:08.1]} 9. Qf3 {[%clk 0:12:33.5]} 9... Nd4 {[%clk 0:15:10.1]} 10.
Qg3 {[%clk 0:12:08.5]} 10... Nxc2+ {[%clk 0:15:05.5]} 11. Kd1 {[%clk 0:11:59.7]}
11... Qxc4 {[%clk 0:14:19.6]} 12. Nxh8 {[%clk 0:11:33.5]} 12... Nxa1 {[%clk
0:14:03]} 13. Qxe5+ {[%clk 0:10:06.7]} 13... Kd8 {[%clk 0:13:33.1]} 14. Nf7+
{[%clk 0:08:51.6]} 14... Qxf7 {[%clk 0:13:34.1]} 15. Qxc5 {[%clk 0:08:38.4]}
15... d6 {[%clk 0:13:09.1] Opens the diagonal for the bishop, tempos the queen,
and closes the dark square diagonal} 16. Qg5+ {[%clk 0:08:04.9]} 16... Ke8
{[%clk 0:12:45.3]} 17. Qe3+ {[%clk 0:07:50.8]} 17... Kf8 {[%clk 0:12:24.5] And
the king is safe, there's no more checks} 18. b3 $4 {[%clk 0:07:36.9][%c_effect
b3;square;b3;type;Blunder;persistent;true][%c_arrow
h2h3;keyPressed;none;from;h2;opacity;0.8;to;h3;persistent;false][%c_highlight
h3;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;h3;persistent;false] Admittedly, White has
few moves, but this is [-M10]} 18... Bg4+ {[%clk 0:12:27.9]} 19. f3 {[%clk
0:06:56.8]} 19... Bxf3+ {[%clk 0:12:35.6]} 20. Ke1 {[%clk 0:06:18.4]} 20... Nc2+
{[%clk 0:12:24.6][%c_arrow
c2e1;keyPressed;none;from;c2;opacity;0.8;to;e1;persistent;false,c2e3;keyPressed;none;from;c2;opacity;0.8;to;e3;persistent;false][%c_highlight
e1;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;e1;persistent;false,e3;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;e3;persistent;false]
The knight leaves the corner with a royal fork $1} 21. Kf2 {[%clk 0:06:20.5]}
21... Nxe3 {[%clk 0:12:32]} 22. Kxe3 {[%clk 0:06:25.1]} 22... Re8+ {[%clk
0:12:38.3][%c_effect f8;square;f8;type;Winner,e3;square;e3;type;ResignWhite]
Emotional damage, GG $1} 0-1