Italian Game: Ulvestad Variation
The Ulvestad's ...b5 — a wild flank counter-sacrifice in the Two Knights.
Italian Game: Ulvestad Variation is one of the most compelling entries in the Encyclopaedia of Chess Openings — and a line that repays every hour you sink into it.
After 5…b5 the position resolves into a fluid centre — one side has staked a central pawn the other must decide how to challenge, so the structure is still being negotiated, with the e-file half-open for White and the d-file half-open for Black, white is ahead by a pawn.
The Ulvestad Variation is one of the defining branches of the Italian Game — the line you reach when both players want the full fight rather than a quiet draw.
The moves
After 5... b5 — Italian Game: Ulvestad Variation main line
Position breakdown
A factual read of the position after the main line — the files, the centre, the pawn structure and king safety that decide how the middlegame is played. These are computed from the actual board, not generic advice.
Files
Centre control
Fluid centre
The d4/d5/e4/e5 squares — who occupies the centre decides how open the game becomes.
Pawn skeleton
Pawns only — the structure that explains every open file and majority at a glance.
White +1
Queenside pawns 3–3
Kingside pawns 3–3
Development
Knight & light-squared bishop active
2 knights active
King safety
White king e1
Uncastled — take care
Black king e8
Uncastled — take care
Computed from the final position of the main line above — 10 plies, white to move.
Strategic ideas
Ideas for White
Build the c3-d3 pawn shell, regroup with Nbd2-f1-g3,the a4 and d4 breaks to perfection.
Ideas for Black
Mirror with ...Be7/...d6/...Re8, counterattack with ...a6 and ...Na5 hitting the c4 bishop, and fight for d4 with ...Bb6 regrouping.
Plans & pawn structures
- 1White plays down the e-file — with no White pawn there, a rook lift and pawn lever turn this file into direct pressure on e7.
- 2Black's counterplay runs down the d-file: it is half-open for Black, so the rooks swing there to hit d2 while White is busy elsewhere.
- 3The centre is still fluid: decide early whether to lock it with a pawn advance or dissolve it with an exchange, because that choice picks the whole middlegame plan for you.
- 4Play around the fixed weaknesses: White's doubled d-pawns can be blockaded, piled on, and won in an endgame — trade pieces if you are attacking it, keep pieces on if you are defending.
Typical middlegame structures
The main line leads to a fluid centre — one side has staked a central pawn the other must decide how to challenge, so the structure is still being negotiated. It leaves the e-file half-open for White, the d-file half-open for Black — that is where the rooks belong and where the middlegame is decided. Structurally, doubled white pawns on the d-file: fixed targets that reward the side with the pieces to attack them.
Traps & tactical motifs
The Blackburne Shilling Gambit: after 3...Nd4?! 4.Nxe5?, Black wins material with ...Qg5! — the classic beginner trap.
In the Møller Attack, White's Bg5 sacrifice exploits the f6-pin and the f7 weakness for a raging initiative.
How to Play Against the Ulvestad Variation
- Target White's doubled d-pawns. Blockade the weak pawn on its square, pile pieces against it, and steer toward an endgame where it simply cannot be defended.
- Neutralise the e-file before White owns it: challenge with your own rook, or close the file with a pawn so the opponent's main artery of play dries up.
- As Black, strike at the fluid centre immediately with your own central pawn or piece pressure, before the opponent locks it into a shape that favours them.
Masters & history
Study plan & who it's for
Solidly intermediate. The main lines require real study, but the payoff is positions you can play for a lifetime. Best investment for White players around 1400–2000.
Play through the main line above until the piece setup feels natural.
Learn the two or three critical pawn breaks for both sides.
Drill one variation at a time — always connecting moves to plans.