Expert: Len Molden - 2/12/2008

Question
I didn't make myself clear. I was talking about the ..Nxd5 line where white then plays Nxf7, and it gets tricky. Can black survive and hold onto the extra material, or will the king drown?

Answer
Fried Liver Attack
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Hi Russell,

The reason I didn't consider 5...N:d5 leading to the 6.N:f7 line of the Fried Liver Attack (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Ng5 d5 5.exd5 for new readers) is because it's not sound for Black.  There's a good reason why certain openings don't appear at the highest levels of Grandmaster chess, and the N:d5 line is one of them.  This is why all of the top players use 5...Na5 as in my previous response.

These are the types of traps that await if Black plays 5...N:d5 followed by White's 6.N:f7:

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Ng5 d5 5.exd5 Nxd5 6.Nxf7 Kxf7 7.Qf3+ Ke6 8.Nc3 Ncb4 9.Qe4 Bc5 10.a3 c6 11.axb4 Bb6 12.0-0 g6 13.Re1 Qc7 14.d4 Rf8 15.Nxd5 cxd5 16.Qxd5+ Kf6 17.Bh6 Rd8 18.dxe5+ Ke7 19.Qf7# 1-0

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Ng5 d5 5.exd5 Nxd5 6.Nxf7 Kxf7 7.Qf3+ Ke6 8.Nc3 Nce7 9.d4 Qd6 10.Qe4 g6 11.f4 Bg7 12.fxe5 Bxe5 13.Bf4 Kd7 14.Bxe5 Qb4 15.Bxh8 Qxb2 16.0-0 Nxc3 17.Qe6+ Kd8 1-0

White can even play the Lolli Attack devised during the mid-1700s, which is a playable alternative to the standard Fried Liver Attack.  It arises after 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Ng5 d5 5.exd5 Nxd5, when instead of the immediate 6.Nxf7 Lolli recommended 6.d4:

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Ng5 d5 5.exd5 Nxd5 6.d4 exd4 7.0-0 h6 8.Nxf7 Kxf7 9.Qf3+ Ke8 10.Bxd5 Qd7 11.Qh5+ Kd8 12.Bg5+ Be7 13.Bxe7+ Qxe7 14.Nd2 Bd7 15.Rfe1 Qd6 16.Nc4 Qf8 17.Bf7 Nb4 18.Re2 d3 19.cxd3 Nxd3 20.Rd2 Nb4 21.Qf5 Qe7 22.Rad1 Kc8 23.Rxd7 Qd6 24.R7xd6+ Kb8 25.Rd8+ Rxd8 26.Rxd8# 1-0

In summary, as White I wouldn't recommend playing for the Fried Liver Attack with 4.Ng5 as there's so many better options like 4.d4 or 4.0-0, and as Black, you shouldn't respond with 4...d5 5.e:d5 N:d5 as Na5 is simply a much better move that the Grandmasters play.

Regards,

Len Molden