The Classical Italian, 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 with c3, is one of the oldest openings in chess. White prepares d4 to build a centre; Black develops with ...Nf6 and ...d6 and keeps the bishop on the a7-g1 diagonal, often retreating it to b6 when d4 comes. The modern way is slow, with d3, castling and a long manoeuvring game, and that slowness is exactly why so many of the mistakes are one-move tactics.
The most common white mistake is a sacrifice on f7 with nothing behind it. After 3...Nf6 4.d3 Bc5 5.O-O d6 6.c3 Bg4 7.Be3 Bb6, White plays 8.Bxf7+? and after 8...Kxf7 there is no follow-up at all. The same happens after 2.Bc4 Bc5 3.Nf3 Nc6 4.d3 Nf6 5.O-O d6 6.c3 Ng4 7.Bxf7+? Kxf7. A bishop sacrifice on f7 only works when a knight or the queen can join with check on the next move.
Black's most frequent problem is a knight on the rim. After 3...Bc5 4.O-O Nf6 5.d3 h6 6.c3 d6 7.b4 Bb6 8.Nbd2, the jump 8...Na5? forgets the pawn on b4: 9.bxa5 wins the knight. In the gambit line 4.c3 Nf6 5.d4 exd4 6.e5 d5 7.Bb5 Nd7 8.cxd4, castling with 8...O-O?? leaves the bishop on c5 hanging to 9.dxc5.
Quiet moves can also lose. After 3...Nf6 4.d3 Bc5 5.O-O d6 6.c3 a6 7.Bb3 Be6 8.Bc2, the natural 8...Qe7? allows 9.d4, hitting the bishop on c5 and the pawn on e5 at the same time. In this structure the d4 push is always the first thing to check.
The Giuoco Piano Centre Trap, with 6...Bb6? against the open centre, has its own page. The puzzles below cover the rest of the Classical Italian, for both colours.
| Mistake | Side | Count | Avg loss |
|---|---|---|---|
| 8...Bxf7+ | Black | 46 | 4.3 pawns |
| 8.Na5 | White | 37 | 4.7 pawns |
| 8.O-O | White | 33 | 4.2 pawns |
| 7...Bxf7+ | Black | 27 | 4.1 pawns |
| 7.Qe7 | White | 27 | 4.0 pawns |