Anyone consider the Ponziani?
Actually, I don't think Nf6 is such a bad move. But the continuations is bad. The false move is starting from move 6. Instead of d6, it's more proper to play Ng6 to push the White knight away...
I've been told sometime ago that there is a counter gambit to use against the Ponziani... In his third move, Black plays f5. That is the Ponziani Countergambit..
I think the ponziani is a sharp opening for white. Black has a lot of places to wrong and if it doesnt, it gives a positional edge in my opinion.
In matter of fact, most players where I applied the ponziani did go wrong one way or another.
I saw the videos. Ponziani look very dangerious,if black don't know how to defend then white can clean house. However like NM Reb said it's doen't hold up against strong player. (Masters and up) Does anybody knows any books on the Ponziani?
I think the Ponziani is a strong opening to use at club play and a suprise weapon to use at master level. If played correctly black can create a sharp opening with attacking chances for both sides. However black must tread carefully, playing naturally can lead to a variety of devastating traps.
If black tries playing the natural 3...Nf6, they can fall into several traps. For example:
Even if black does not fall into one of the traps the ponziani provides, the most aggressive (and perhaps best response) 3...d5 leads to a sharp game with plenty of tacital traps and attacking chances for both sides.