The Fried Liver Attack, also called the Fegatello Attack (named after an Italian dish), is a

chess opening A chess opening or simply an opening is the initial stage of a chess game. It usually consists of established theory; the other phases are the middlegame and the endgame. Many opening sequences have standard names such as the "Sicilian Defens ...

. This opening is a variation of the

Two Knights Defense The Two Knights Defense is a chess opening that begins with the moves: :1. e4 e5 :2. Nf3 Nc6 :3. Bc4 Nf6 First recorded by Giulio Cesare Polerio (c. 1550 – c. 1610) in the late 16th century, this line of the Italian Game was extensiv ...

in which White

sacrifices Sacrifice is the offering of material possessions or the lives of animals or humans to a deity as an act of propitiation or worship. Evidence of ritual animal sacrifice has been seen at least since ancient Hebrews and Greeks, and possibly exis ...

knight A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the Gr ...

for an attack on Black's

king King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...

. The opening begins with the moves: :1. e4 e5 :2. Nf3 Nc6 :3. Bc4 Nf6 :4. Ng5 d5 :5. exd5 Nxd5?! This is the

where White has chosen the offensive line 4.Ng5, but Black's last move is risky (other Black choices include 5...Na5, 5...b5, and 5...Nd4).

Bobby Fischer Robert James Fischer (March 9, 1943January 17, 2008) was an American chess grandmaster and the eleventh World Chess Champion. A chess prodigy, he won his first of a record eight US Championships at the age of 14. In 1964, he won with an 11� ...

felt that 6.d4! (the Lolli Attack) was incredibly strong, to the point 5...Nxd5 is rarely played; Fischer's analysis of this line is in game 45, Fischer - Bisguier 1963 however, the Fried Liver Attack involves a knight sacrifice on f7, defined by the moves: :6. Nxf7 Kxf7 The opening is popular with younger players who like the name and the aggressive, attacking style. It is classified as code C57 in the ''

Encyclopaedia of Chess Openings The ''Encyclopaedia of Chess Openings'' () is a reference work describing the state of opening theory in chess, originally published in five volumes from 1974 to 1979 by the Serbian company Šahovski Informator (Chess Informant). It is current ...

''.

History

The Fried Liver Attack has been known for many centuries, the earliest known example being a game played by

Giulio Cesare Polerio Giulio Cesare Polerio (c. 1550, – c. 1610; reconstruction of places and dates by Adriano Chicco) was an Italian chess theoretician and player. Name affixes used for him are ''l'Apruzzese'', Giu io Cesare ''da Lanciano'' (Salvio/Walker), and ''L ...

before 1606.

Considerations

Play usually continues 7.Qf3+ Ke6 8.Nc3 (''diagram''). Black will play 8...Nb4 and follow up with ...c6, bolstering his pinned knight on d5. White can the b4-knight to abandon protection of the d5-knight with 9.a3, a move

Yakov Estrin Yakov Borisovich Estrin (Russian: Я́ков Бори́сович Эстрин, April 21, 1923 – February 2, 1987) was a Russian chess player, chess theoretician, writer, and World Correspondence Chess Champion who held the chess titles of Inte ...

recommended, but Black is quite strong after 9.a3 Nxc2+ 10.Kd1 Nd4! or 10...Nxa1!? as tried by

Šarūnas Šulskis Šarūnas Šulskis (born 26 November 1972, in Kėdainiai) is a Lithuanian chess Grandmaster (1996). Chess career He won the Lithuanian Chess Championship on five occasions: in 1991, 1994, 1998 (shared with Vidmantas Mališauskas), 2007 and 20 ...

in a 2014 game, so 9.Qe4 or 9.O-O are probably better choices. White has a strong attack, but it has not yet been proven to be decisive. Because defence is harder to play than attack in this variation, the Fried Liver is dangerous for Black, particularly with shorter

time control A time control is a mechanism in the tournament play of almost all two-player board games so that each round of the match can finish in a timely way and the tournament can proceed. Time controls are typically enforced by means of a game clock, ...

References

External links

The Fried Liver Attack
blog by GM

Boris Alterman Boris Alterman ( he, בוריס אלתרמן, russian: Борис Альтерман; born May 4, 1970) is an Israeli chess Grandmaster, FIDE Senior Trainer (2010), advisor of the Junior chess program. He started playing chess at the age of 7. H ...

Fried Liver Attack
The Chess Website by Kevin Butler {{Chess, state=collapsed Chess openings

History

Considerations

References

Further reading

External links