Italian Game · As Black · updated October 2026
Play against the Italian Game like Ray Robson
A repertoire against the Italian Game built from 52 of Ray Robson's public Chess.com blitz games. At every position you play the move Ray Robson chose most often. Where Ray Robson has fewer than 3 games, the course takes the other top-50 players' most played move, then Stockfish's. Learn a line on the board, then each position comes back in a short daily review until it sticks.
Not affiliated with or endorsed by Ray Robson or Chess.com.
- Ray Robson was #48 in Chess.com blitz in October 2026 (3,204) and scored 67% against opponents averaging 2,934 in these games.
- You play Ray Robson's own move in 20 of 40 positions.
- The whole course is free, and it is updated monthly.
Train lines
Learn a new line move by move. Lines due for review go to your daily review first.
Free · first 5 lines need no account
Blitz rank
#48
Chess.com
Rating
3,204
Games
52
in this opening
Score
67%
in these games
Opponents
2,934
average rating
Lines to learn
- Next
Line 1 · 9% at top level
3…Nf6 4.d3 Bc5 5.c3 d6 6.O-O a5 7.Re1 Ba7 8.Nbd2 O-O 9.Nf1 Ne7 10.Ng3 Ng6 11.h3 c6
- New
Line 2 · 8% at top level
3…Nf6 4.d3 Bc5 5.Bg5 h6 6.Bh4 d6 7.c3 a5 8.Nbd2 Ba7 9.O-O O-O
- New
Line 3 · 7% at top level
3…Nf6 4.d3 Bc5 5.O-O d6 6.c3 a5 7.Bb3 O-O
- New
Line 4 · 6% at top level
3…Nf6 4.d3 Bc5 5.c3 d6 6.O-O a5 7.Re1 Ba7 8.h3 h6
- New
Line 5 · 6% at top level
3…Nf6 4.Ng5 d5 5.exd5 Na5 6.d3 h6
- New
Line 6 · 6% at top level
3…Nf6 4.d3 Bc5 5.c3 d6 6.Bg5 h6 7.Bh4 a5
- New
Line 7 · 5% at top level
3…Nf6 4.Ng5 d5 5.exd5 Na5 6.Bb5+ c6 7.dxc6 bxc6 8.Bd3 Nd5 9.Nf3 Bd6 10.O-O O-O 11.Re1 f5 12.Nxe5 Qf6 13.Nf3 g5 14.c4 Nf4 15.Bf1 g4 16.d4 gxf3
- New
Line 8 · 4% at top level
3…Nf6 4.d3 Bc5 5.c3 d6 6.O-O a5 7.Re1 Ba7 8.Nbd2 O-O 9.Nf1 Ne7 10.Ng3 Ng6 11.d4 exd4
- New
Line 9 · 4% at top level
3…Nf6 4.d3 Bc5 5.Nc3 d6 6.Na4 Bb6 7.a3 h6 8.h3 O-O 9.O-O Re8
- New
Line 10 · 4% at top level
3…Nf6 4.O-O Nxe4 5.Nc3 Nxc3
Ordered by how often they come up in top-level games. Learned lines join your daily review.
Ray Robson's main line against the Italian Game, move by move
The most common line at top level: 3…Nf6 4.d3 Bc5 5.c3 d6 6.O-O a5 7.Re1 Ba7 8.Nbd2 O-O 9.Nf1 Ne7 10.Ng3 Ng6 11.h3 c6.
- 3…Nf6 Your move · Ray Robson's games Ray Robson played 3…Nf6 in 52 games, scoring 67%.
- 4.d3 Reply · Ray Robson's games A common reply here is 4.d3. At top level, this comes up about 75% of the time.
- 4…Bc5 Your move · Ray Robson's games Ray Robson played 4…Bc5 in 27 games, scoring 63%.
- 5.c3 Reply · Ray Robson's games A common reply here is 5.c3. At top level, this comes up about 25% of the time.
- 5…d6 Your move · Ray Robson's games Ray Robson played 5…d6 in 9 games, scoring 56%.
- 6.O-O Reply · Ray Robson's games A common reply here is 6.O-O. At top level, this comes up about 19% of the time.
- 6…a5 Your move · Ray Robson's games Ray Robson played 6…a5 in 6 games, scoring 50%.
- 7.Re1 Reply · Ray Robson's games A common reply here is 7.Re1.
- 7…Ba7 Your move · Ray Robson's games Ray Robson played 7…Ba7 in 6 games, scoring 50%.
- 8.Nbd2 Reply · Ray Robson's games A common reply here is 8.Nbd2. At top level, this comes up about 13% of the time.
- 8…O-O Your move · Ray Robson's games Ray Robson played 8…O-O in 4 games, scoring 25%.
- 9.Nf1 Reply · Ray Robson's games A common reply here is 9.Nf1.
- 9…Ne7 Your move · Ray Robson's games Ray Robson played 9…Ne7 in 3 games, scoring 33%.
- 10.Ng3 Reply · Ray Robson's games A common reply here is 10.Ng3.
- 10…Ng6 Your move · Ray Robson's games Ray Robson played 10…Ng6 in 3 games, scoring 33%.
- 11.h3 Reply · Ray Robson's games A common reply here is 11.h3. At top level, this comes up about 9% of the time.
- 11…c6 Your move · Stockfish The games give no move to follow here, so this is Stockfish's choice.
Questions about this course
- How does Ray Robson play against the Italian Game?
- After 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4, Ray Robson's most common line is 3…Nf6 4.d3 Bc5 5.c3 d6 6.O-O a5 7.Re1 Ba7 8.Nbd2 O-O 9.Nf1 Ne7 10.Ng3 Ng6 11.h3 c6. At top level it comes up about 9% of the time.
- Is this Ray Robson's course?
- No. ChessDrills builds it automatically from Ray Robson's public Chess.com blitz games.
- What is this Italian Game course based on?
- 52 of Ray Robson's Chess.com blitz games in the Italian Game as Black, against opponents with an average rating of 2,934. Ray Robson scored 67% in them.
- How many lines does the course have?
- 10 lines covering 40 positions, ordered by how often they come up in top-level games. The first 5 lines need no account; saving your progress with an email unlocks the rest, free.
- Who is Ray Robson?
- GM Ray Robson was ranked number 48 on the Chess.com blitz leaderboard with a rating of 3,204 when this course was built.