{{Infobox chess opening |openingname = Fried Liver Attack |image = {{Chess diagram |center | |rd| |bd|qd|kd|bd| |rd |pd|pd|pd| | |nl|pd|pd | | |nd| | | | | | | | |nd|pd| | | | | |bl| | | | | | | | | | | | | |pl|pl|pl|pl| |pl|pl|pl |rl|nl|bl|ql|kl| | |rl | }} |moves = 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Ng5 d5 5.exd5 Nxd5 6.Nxf7 |ECO = C57 |birth = Polerio vs. Domenico, Rome c. 1610 |nameorigin = Italian dish ("Fegatelli" is pork liver sliced up, wrapped in fat netting and cooked over a fire; likewise Black's king is wrapped in White's {{chessgloss|mating net}}.<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Doazan |first=G.-E. |date=April 1843 |title=Un manuscrit sur les éches |trans-title=A manuscript on chess |magazine=Palamède}}</ref>) |parentopening = Two Knights Defense |AKA = Fegatello Attack |chessgid = }}

The '''Fried Liver Attack''', also called the '''Fegatello Attack''' (named after an Italian dish), is a chess opening variation of the Two Knights Defense in which White sacrifices a knight for an attack on Black's king. The opening begins with the moves: :1. e4 e5 :2. Nf3 Nc6 :3. Bc4 Nf6 :4. Ng5 d5 :5. exd5 Nxd5?! :6. Nxf7

White's move 4.Ng5 is an aggressive attacking line against the Two Knights. Black's move 5...Nxd5{{chesspunc|?!}} is risky (5...Na5 is generally considered best). Bobby Fischer felt that 6.d4{{chesspunc|!}} (the Lolli Attack<ref>Hooper & Whyld (1996), p. 232. ''Lolli Attack''.</ref>) was incredibly strong, to the point 5...Nxd5 is rarely played.<ref name=My60MG>{{cite book|last=Fischer|first=Bobby|author-link=Bobby Fischer|title=My 60 Memorable Games}} Fischer's analysis of this line is in game 45, Fischer - Bisguier 1963</ref> It is classified as code C57 in the ''Encyclopaedia of Chess Openings''. {{AN chess|pos=toc}}

==History== The Fried Liver Attack has been known for many centuries, the earliest known example being a game played by Giulio Cesare Polerio before 1606.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1224683 |title=Giulio Cesare Polerio vs. Domenico, Rome 1610 |website=Chessgames.com }}</ref><ref>Polerio–Giovanni Domenico d'Arminio must have been played before 1606 (Polerio's last sign of life, see: Peter Monté ''The Classical Era of Modern Chess'' (McFarland 2014), p. 273)</ref>

==Considerations== {{Chess diagram |floatright | |rd| |bd|qd| |bd| |rd |pd|pd|pd| | | |pd|pd | | |nd| |kd| | | | | | |nd|pd| | | | | |bl| | | | | | | |nl| | |ql| | |pl|pl|pl|pl| |pl|pl|pl |rl| |bl| |kl| | |rl |Position after 8.Nc3 }} After 6...Kxf7, play usually continues 7.Qf3+ Ke6 (7...Kg8{{chesspunc|??}} leads to a mate in 3 after 8.Bxd5+ while other moves immediately lose the knight on d5) 8.Nc3 (''diagram''). Black will play 8...Nb4 and follow up with ...c6, bolstering their pinned knight on d5. White can {{chessgloss|forced move|force}} the b4-knight to abandon protection of the d5-knight with 9.a3, a move Yakov Estrin recommended, but Black is quite strong after 9.a3 Nxc2+ 10.Kd1 Nd4{{chesspunc|!?}}<ref name=JonEdwards /> or 10...Nxa1! 11.Nxd5 Qh4! when White's attack runs out (12.Nxc7+ Kd7 13.Qf7+ Qe7 and the queens come off; after 12.Nb6+ Ke7, 13.Nxc8+ is met by 13...Rxc8 14.d3 Kd8, and 13.Qf7+ is met by 13...Kd8 14.Nxa8 Bd7; either way, Black's king is safe and Black has the advantage).<ref name=chessbooks>{{cite web |url=http://chessbooks.nl/elburg206.html |title=Chessbook Reviews |last=Elburg |first=John |date=2015 |website=chessbooks.nl |publisher= |access-date=12 January 2024 |quote=}}</ref> Thus, 9.Bb3, 9.Qe4, or 9.0-0 are better choices.<ref name=JonEdwards>{{cite book|last=Edwards|first=Jon|title=Chess is Fun: The Fried Liver Attack|url=https://www.amazon.com/Fried-Liver-Attack-Chess-Book-ebook/dp/B006JB922Q/}}</ref><ref name=chessbooks/>

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 controls. {{clear}}

==References== {{reflist}}

'''Bibliography''' *{{cite book |last1=Hooper |first1=David |authorlink1=David Vincent Hooper |last2=Whyld |first2=Kenneth |authorlink2=Kenneth Whyld |title=The Oxford Companion to Chess |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=1996 |edition=2nd |orig-date=First pub. 1992 |isbn=0-19-280049-3 }}

==Further reading== * ''Computer Analysis of the Fried Liver and Lolli'', Dan Heisman, Chessbase CHNESO001U * ''Re-Fried Liver'', by Jon Edwards, ''Chess Life'', July 2009, pp.&nbsp;32–34.

==External links== {{Wikibooks|Chess Opening Theory|1. e4/1...e5/2. Nf3/2...Nc6/3. Bc4/3...Nf6/4. Ng5/4...d5/5. exd5/5...Nxd5/6. Nxf7|Fried Liver Attack}} *[https://web.archive.org/web/20120224212500/http://en.wordpress.com/tag/the-fried-liver-attack/ The Fried Liver Attack] blog by GM Boris Alterman *[http://www.thechesswebsite.com/fried-liver-attack/ Fried Liver Attack] The Chess Website by Kevin Butler

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Category:Chess openings