Is Ponziani dubious?

Don’t play the ponziani, that is dubious opening. Play the italian game or ruy lopez, (in case you would want to play the ponziani) in those openings you will play c3-d4 later, but an early c3 is not so good. If you want to become a good chess player, you should not play dubious openings, but it is your choice.

What does Ng4 mean in chess?

Ne4 or 5… Ng4 is a playable reply, but most common and natural is 5… d5 6. Bb5 Ne4 7. Nxd4 Bc5, with sharp play.

Why do chess bishops have a cut?

Why do chess bishops have a cut on top? There’s definitely truth in the old war elephant story as the bishop didn’t exist in Shatranj but war elephants did. Thus, the original pieces were shaped like the trunk of one of these war elephants and the slash across the top was meant to symbolize the opening of the trunk.