40. Lolli Attack (6.d4)

Devised by the Modenese theorist Giambattista Lolli in the 18th century: instead of sacrificing on f7 at once, White plays 6.d4 and castles. After 8.Nxf7 Kxf7 9.Qf3+ Ke6 10.Re1+ the rook joins the attack with check.

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Ng5 d5 5.exd5 Nxd5 6.d4 exd4 7.O-O Be7 8.Nxf7 Kxf7 9.Qf3+ Ke6 10.Re1+

Move by move

1.e4 – Occupies the centre and frees the queen and the f1-bishop, which in the Italian Game goes to c4 to aim at the weak f7 point.
1...e5 – Black contests the centre at once: the e5 pawn controls d4 and f4 and opens the diagonal for the f8-bishop and the queen.
2.Nf3 – Development with an attack: the knight hits the e5 pawn, controls d4 and prepares quick kingside castling.
2...Nc6 – Defends e5 while developing and adds control of d4, the square White wants for a pawn.
3.Bc4 – The Italian Game move: the bishop aims at f7, defended only by the king, and controls d5, making ...d5 harder to achieve.
3...Nf6 – The Two Knights Defence: instead of 3...Bc5 Black develops the knight and immediately attacks e4. It is an active choice, but it allows White the 4.Ng5 attack against f7.
4.Ng5 – The knight attacks f7 together with the c4-bishop: the point is defended only by the king and Black has to answer with ...d5. The price is a knight moved twice in the opening.
4...d5 – The only reasonable defence of f7: the pawn blocks the c4-bishop's diagonal. Black is ready to sacrifice a pawn in order to gain development tempi.
5.exd5 – White captures and reopens the c4-f7 diagonal: if now 5...Nxd5, White has 6.Nxf7 or 6.d4, the attacks of chapter 4.
5...Nxd5 – The natural but risky recapture: the knight on d5 is poorly protected and the c4-f7 diagonal is open again. White can sacrifice on f7 (Fried Liver) or play 6.d4 (Lolli Attack).
6.d4 – The Lolli Attack: before sacrificing on f7, White opens the centre and attacks e5, so that rook and c1-bishop will be ready to take part.
6...exd4 – Black captures, but opens the e-file: after White castles the rook will be able to reach e1 against the black king.
7.O-O – White castles and prepares Re1: the sacrifice on f7 will now have the rook's support.
7...Be7 – Black develops and prepares castling: if he manages to castle he is safe, which is why White strikes at once.
8.Nxf7 – The sacrifice comes before Black castles: with the e-file open and the rook ready for e1, the black king will have no shelter in the centre.
8...Kxf7 – Black accepts: the king loses castling and the d5-knight is pinned by the c4-bishop.
9.Qf3+ – Check and an attack on the pinned d5-knight: the king must protect it personally.
9...Ke6 – The king goes to e6 to defend the d5-knight, but now it is on the open e-file.
10.Re1+ – The rook enters with check on the e-file: the king on e6 is attacked by rook, queen and bishop, and Black usually interposes ...Ne5.

How to exploit the position

White is a knight down, but the black king is on e6 on the open e-file and the white king is already castled. Black usually blocks with ...Ne5, which however becomes pinned.

After ...Ne5, Bf4 attacks the knight pinned on the e-file.
Nd2-e4 (or Nc3 if the d4-pawn disappears) brings another piece to the attack, towards c5, g5 and d6.
Qe4 attacks the d5-knight and the e-file together; the d5-knight is always pinned by the c4-bishop.
Black looks for ...Kd7 and ...Kc8 to escape to the queenside: keep the lines open and concede no tempi.

Master tips

Lines first, then the sacrifice

With 6.d4 and O-O the e-file opens before the sacrifice: when Nxf7 arrives, the rook is already ready for Re1+.