It reaches the starting point of the Semi-Italian from a Philidor move-order, and owes its fame to being included by Alekhine as among his best games.
M. Rodzinski - Alekhine
Paris (simul) 1913
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.Bc4 Nc6 4.c3 Bg4
The most-popular move, after which play can get very sharp. There is much less theory on the Semi-Italian than there is on other Italian lines, eg the Guioco Piano, the Two Knights Defence and the Evans Gambit. But it certainly helps to know the basic ideas. The point of 4...Bg4 is to put pressure on the centre that White is building, and is part of Black's plan to play on the kingside, which is where his central pawns are pointing.
5.Qb3!?
This critical response has been given a question mark, for example in ChessBase's 2021 Mega database, but is the choice of the analysis engines Stockfish12 and Komodo11.01.
Most popular in Mega21 is 5.d3, after which Martin Beardsley (unrated) - Spanton (unrated), Sinclair (correspondence) 2012, went 5...Qd7 6.Nbd2 (a young Vladimir Kramnik played 6.b4 g6 7.Nbd2 in a 1990 game) Nf6 (Mega21 has three games with 6...Na5 and one with 6...0-0-0, but the text transposes to a known position) 7.Nf1 d5!? (but this may well be a real novelty) 8.exd5 Nxd5 9.Ne3 Be6 10.Ng5 Nxe3 11.Bxe6? (11.Bxe3 Bxc4 12.dxc4 Rd8 13.Qxd7+ Rxd7 is slightly better for Black, according to Stockfish12; equal, according to Komodo11.01) Nxg2+ 12.Kf1 fxe6 13.Kg2 0-0-0, when Black's extra pawn may not count for much but pressure down the d file and having the safer king do (0-1, 24 moves).
Also slightly more popular than the text is 5.h3, after which Päivi Walta (1808) - Spanton (1975), Riga, Latvia, 2012, continued 5...Bh5 6.d3 Be7 7.Bb3 Nf6 8.Nbd2 Qd7 9.Nf1 d5!? 10.Ng3!? (not in Mega21, but it is the engines' choice) Bg6 11.Qe2 0-0 12.0-0 (12.exd5 Nxd5 13.Nxe5 Nxe5 13.Qxe5 wins a pawn, but Black is better after the engines' 13...Nb4!!) Rad8 13.Bd2 Rfe8 14.Rad1, which the engines reckon is slightly better for White (but 0-1, 55 moves).
5.0-0 Qf6 6.d3 Bxf3 7.Qxf3 Qxf3 8.gxf3 was about equal in John E Richards (2050) - Spanton (2115), British Major (Torquay) 1998 (½–½, 43 moves).
5...Qd7
5...Na5?! 6.Bxf7+ Ke7 7.Qa4 seems good for White.
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| How should White proceed? |
*****
*****
*****
*****
6.Ng5!?
White has two tempting alternatives.
6.Bxf7+ Qxf7 7.Qxb7 Kd7! 8.Qxa8 Bxf3 9.d3! (9.gxf3 Qxf3 gives Black huge compensation) Bxg2 10.Rg1 Bf3 with advantage to Black, according to the engines.
6.Qxb7 Rb8 7.Qa6 Be7! (Jonny Hector's move, which comes to be the engines' choice) 8.d3 Bxf3 9.gxf3, when both engines like White but disagree as to how much advantage White has. In any event White will have long-term problems with king safety.
6...Nh6
The engines much prefer the untried - at least it is not in Mega21 - 6...Nd8!?, which covers b7 as well as f7.
7.Bxf7+?
The engines like 7.Qxb7!? (not in Mega21) Rb8 8.Qa6 Be7 9.d3, when they put great stock in White's extra pawn.
7.Nxf7 can be met by 7...Na5 8.Qb4 Nxc4 9.Nxh6 (9.Nxh8 Nb6 seems better for Black) gxh6 10.Qxc4 Be6 11.Qe2 Rg8, when Black has good compensation for a pawn.
7...Nxf7 8.Nxf7 Qxf7?
Missing the winning 8...Be6, but without the text we would not get to see the spectacular finish for which this game is famous.
9.Qxb7 Kd7!?
Stockfish12 much prefers 9...Rd8 10.Qxc6+ Bd7, claiming Black has an edge, despite being two pawns down. Komodo11.01 likes the text as much as 9...Rd8.
10.Qxa8 Qc4 11.f3
The only move to keep the game going.
11...Bxf3!?
Also interesting is 11...Nd4!? 12.d3! Nxf3+! (12...Qxd3 13.cxd4 Bxf3 14.Nc3!) 13.gxf3+ Qxd3 14.Qd5! (14.fxg4 Be7!) Qxf3 15.Qb5+, which the engines reckon is dead-equal, eg 15...Kd8 16.Qb8+ Kd7 17.Qb5+ etc.
12.gxf3 Nd4!?
The engines reckon 12...Qd3 is also a draw.
13.d3?
White had to play 13.cxd4, after which 13...Qxc1+ 14.Ke2 Qxh1 15.dxe5 dxe5 is equal, according to the engines.
13...Qxd3
13...Nxf3+? 14.Ke2.
14.cxd4 Be7! 15.Qxh8 Bh4#
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