Answers.Body: <p>This line looks unsound.</p>
  
  <p>White's plan seems to be to threaten to win back the piece by <strong>10...dxc4 11. Re1</strong> (pinning the knight), teasing Black into weakening his king's position further by <strong>11...f5</strong> to defend e4, which then leads to a very complicated situation that White hopes to manage better.</p>
  
  <p>However, Black is fine if he just lets go of the knight, since he's still a pawn up. Obviously, his kingside is very weak, but he can move out his queen with tempo (by attacking e4) and castle long. </p>
  
  <p><strong>11...Be6 12. Rxe4 Qd5 13. Re1/Re2/Qe2 etc. 0-0-0</strong> </p>
  
  <p>The black king is safe and c4 is actually well protected. White doesn't have enough compensation left for that pawn.</p>
  
  <hr>
  
  <p>To back this up, according to the Lichess online database, White has a win rate of 62% if Black plays <strong>11...f5</strong> (71 games), but only one of 27%/38% respectively if the answer is <strong>11...Qd5</strong> or <strong>11...Be6</strong> (11/8 games). <strong>11...Bf5</strong> also seems to work (35%, 20 games). </p>
  
  <p>That's just not enough to make the variation appealing for grandmasters (who probably consider the refutation too obvious), and if none of them play a line it will hardly become very popular. It's a nice Blitz surprise weapon though, as you can see the majority of players from a database leaning towards fast games will choose 11...f5.</p>
  
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Body: <pre><code>[fen ""]    
  
  1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Nf6 5. d4 exd4 6. cxd4 Bb4+ 7. Nc3 Nxe4 8. O-O Bxc3 9. bxc3 d5 10. Ba3
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>Steinitz Variation.</p>
  
  <p>We play this in regular tournaments and it is very interesting. White gives the sacrifice of Bishop and also blocks Black's ...O-O. When we studied this line it contains lot of interesting variations. In modern times most players are not playing this variation, why?</p>
  
Tags: <opening><italian-game>
Title: Giuoco Piano, Steinitz Variation
ThreadText: # Giuoco Piano, Steinitz Variation
  
  (Asked by: username_0 on 2018-08-17)
  
  ```
  [fen ""]    
  
  1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Nf6 5. d4 exd4 6. cxd4 Bb4+ 7. Nc3 Nxe4 8. O-O Bxc3 9. bxc3 d5 10. Ba3
  
  ```
  
  Steinitz Variation.
  
  We play this in regular tournaments and it is very interesting. White gives the sacrifice of Bishop and also blocks Black's ...O-O. When we studied this line it contains lot of interesting variations. In modern times most players are not playing this variation, why?
  
  **Tags:** opening, italian-game
  
  
  ---
  
  ## 1 answers
  
  ### Answer by username_1 on 2018-08-17. Score: 4 | Accepted answer
  
  This line looks unsound.
  
  White's plan seems to be to threaten to win back the piece by **10...dxc4 11. Re1** (pinning the knight), teasing Black into weakening his king's position further by **11...f5** to defend e4, which then leads to a very complicated situation that White hopes to manage better.
  
  However, Black is fine if he just lets go of the knight, since he's still a pawn up. Obviously, his kingside is very weak, but he can move out his queen with tempo (by attacking e4) and castle long.
  
  **11...Be6 12. Rxe4 Qd5 13. Re1/Re2/Qe2 etc. 0-0-0**
  
  The black king is safe and c4 is actually well protected. White doesn't have enough compensation left for that pawn.
  
  ---
  
  To back this up, according to the Lichess online database, White has a win rate of 62% if Black plays **11...f5** (71 games), but only one of 27%/38% respectively if the answer is **11...Qd5** or **11...Be6** (11/8 games). **11...Bf5** also seems to work (35%, 20 games).
  
  That's just not enough to make the variation appealing for grandmasters (who probably consider the refutation too obvious), and if none of them play a line it will hardly become very popular. It's a nice Blitz surprise weapon though, as you can see the majority of players from a database leaning towards fast games will choose 11...f5.
  
  > **Comments:**
  > **username_0**: Sir, Excellent!!  
  
  ---
  
  