Fried Liver Attack

Italian Game

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Ng5 d5 5.exd5 Nxd5 6.Nxf7

White sacrifices a knight on f7 for a ferocious attack on Black's exposed king.

Fun fact: The name comes from the Italian "fegatello", a small piece of liver. Source

The idea

After 4.Ng5 d5 5.exd5, Black recaptures 5...Nxd5. It looks natural, but it leaves the knight on d5 loose in front of the king. White sacrifices the knight with 6.Nxf7, and after 6...Kxf7 7.Qf3+ Black's king has to come forward to e6 to keep the knight on d5 defended.

Plans for White

After 6...Kxf7 7.Qf3+ Ke6, play 8.Nc3, piling up on the pinned knight on d5. Then bring in more pieces with tempo, with d4, O-O and Re1, instead of hunting for a quick knockout.

Many strong players think the quieter 6.d4 (the Lolli Attack) is even stronger than the knight sacrifice.

Plans for Black

Once the knight is taken on f7, Black has to defend accurately. The usual tries are 8...Nb4 or 8...Ne7, followed by ...c6 to hold d5 while looking for a way to tuck the king away.

Engines say Black can survive with perfect defense, but very few players want to defend this position over the board.

Watch out for

For Black, the real lesson comes one move earlier. After 5.exd5, play 5...Na5, the main line, rather than 5...Nxd5. At club level, Black is often lost within a few moves once the Fried Liver starts.