Opening Review of The

Giuoco Piano

Hello Chess Fans,

Today we'll review one of the most common
opening repertoires first learned when playing
1.e4: The Giuoco Piano.
It's taught early to fledgling players because
there's less theory than many other openings and
introduces players to common sense moves that
attack on open files and diagonals with tactics that
aren't complicated but still need to be understood.

Opening Principles Reviewed for the Giuoco

Piano
1. e4e52. Nf3Most Principled move that develops a piece and
attacks the e5-pawn and the d4 square.
2... Nc6Most common response to defend e5 and attacks the d4
square

3. Bc4This move is the best in that it requires the least amount

of theoretical knowledge - The Italian Game. The bishop attacks
the f7 square, the weakest square for Black in the opening
because it's only defended by the king.
(3. Bb5The Ruy Lopez is actually the best move for White
and is played regularly by GMs - but the theory involved
is deep. If your opponent knows how to play against the
Ruy Lopez, White can be tied up in knots. Many
theoretical lines to know. )3... Bc5Black often develops the
bishop, transforming into the Giuoco Piano, which attacks the d4
square again and White's f2 square.
4. c3White often pushes the c-pawn to gain more space in the
center with an upcoming d4 push.
4... Nf6Develops the knight to allow castling.
5. d4Now the d4 pawn is pushed into the center
5... exd46. cxd4The pawns exchange and White has 2 pawns in
the center
6... Bb4+The bishop retreats from the attack with check
7. Bd2The bishop blocks
7... Bxd2+Best move for Black is to exchange bishops
8. Nbxd2The knight picks up the bishop with development.
8... d5Black's best move is NOT to castle but instead break-up
White's IDEAL PAWN CENTER with ...d5.
(8... O-OIf Black castles here, White can kick the knights
around with multiple pawn attacks as white rolls them
down the board with tempo. 9. d5First attack 9... Na5IF
the knight moves here, attacking the bishop (9... Ne7If
the knight retreats to e7 10. O-OWhite's best move is to
castle out of the center. White has a dominating presence
in the center of the board and will continue to take

advantage of his space with Re1,

Rc1 )10. Bd3Retreats 10... d6IF black pushes the d-pawn
to allow the LS bishop to develop 11. b4The knight is
trapped )(8... Nxe4Sometimes you'll see this variation,
where the knight picks up the pawn with a temporary
sacrifice. 9. Nxe4Captures 9... d5NOW ...d5 is played to
fork both pieces. 10. Bd3Since this is an OPEN game, the
bishops are more valuable. Move the bishop to d3 to pick
up the pawn afterwards. 10... dxe4Takes the
knight 11. Bxe4Picks up the pawn 11... O-O12. O-OAs you
can see, this variation is not as good for Black. White is
further developed, but it can give Black some tactical
opportunities because of white's IQP ( Isolated Queen
Pawn) on d4. )9. exd5Nxd510. O-OO-OAfter the pawns
exchange it's best to castle.

Take a quick peek at a previously article written

about The Giuoco Piano Opening and the Rolling
Pawn Trap.
Let's look deeper into the 8...Nxe4 Variation and
how White should proceed a few moves later.
Black has tactics against the IQP (Isolated Queen
Pawn) that White needs to know how to handle:
Opening Review of the Giuoco Piano 8...Nxe4 Variation
1. e4e52. Nf3Nc63. Bc4Bc54. c3Nf65. d4exd46. cxd4Bb4+7. B
d2Bxd2+[[8. Nbxd2Nxe4Black temporarily sacrifices his knight
to pick up the pawn.

9. Nxe4After White captures the knight

9... d5Black forks both center pieces.
10. Bd3dxe411. Bxe4Bg4Black's best move is to develop his
bishop, pinning the knight to the queen. How should White
proceed?

What is White's best continuation for this position?

Opening Review of the Giuoco Piano 8...Nxe4 Variation
Bg4

Let's watch the rest of the opening continuation:

Opening Review of the Giuoco Piano Continuation of the 8..Nxe4 Variation

1. e4e52. Nf3Nc63. Bc4Bc54. c3Nf65. d4exd46. cxd
4Bb4+7. Bd2Bxd2+8. Nbxd2Nxe49. Nxe4d510. Bd3
dxe411. Bxe4Bg412. Bxc6+bxc613. O-OO-O[[14. Rc
1Bxf3The bishop takes the knight
15. Qxf3The queen recaptures
15... Qxd4Black picks up the IQP and is targeting the b2
pawn
16. Rc2White wants to defend his GOOD pawns first
instead of capturing Black's WEAK pawns. Black's pawns
aren't going anywhere. They're a Permanent Static
Weakness.
(16. Rxc6If captures 16... Qxb2The queen picks up both of
White's STRONG pawns. They're strong because they're

CONNECTED PAWNS, which helps them move up the

board together toward a possible
promotion. )16... Rab8Attacks the b2 pawn for a second
time
17. b3Pushes the pawn to safety.
17... Rb6Defends the weak c6 pawn.
18. Rfc1Doubles up the rooks against the c-pawns.
18... Rd8Black forms a battery with the queen.
19. Rxc6White wins a pawn and exchanges rooks.
19... Rxc620. Qxc6The queen recaptures with an attack
on c7.
20... Rd7Defends the c7 pawn
21. Qa8+Check
21... Rd8Blocks
22. Qb7The queen attacks both pawns and the rook will
pick it up in a few moves. FIRST White needs to move
either the g or h pawn to prevent a back rank mate,
which is a potential weakness on both sides. Both sides
will grind their way to the end.

Now that you've seen the above positions, try your

hand at it. Don't memorize the moves but instead
understand why you're making the moves and
what they're trying to accomplish toward your end
goal.

Opening Review of Giuoco Piano - 8...Nxe4

Variation
Bg4

Let's watch Garry Kasparov WIN as White

with the Giuoco Piano:

Garry Kasparow (2812) vs. Rafail

Gabdrakhmanov (2405)
URS | 1977 | ECO: C54 | 1-0
1. e4e52. Nf3Nc63. Bc4Bc54. c3Nf65. d4exd46. cxd4Bb4+7. B
d2Bxd2+8. Nbxd2Up to this point we've seen normal opening
moves as reviewed above.
8... d5Black strikes in the center to disrupt White's pawn
center.
9. exd5Nxd510. Qb3Garry forms a Queen/Bishop battery eyeing
the f7 square.
10... Nce7Black's defends his central knight
11. O-OThe kings get out of the open e-files and into safety
11... O-O12. Rfe1White takes control of the e-file.
12... c6Defends the knight for a third time
13. Qa3With the LS diagonal "Locked-Up", Garry moved his
queen to control the center Dark Square diagonal
13... Nf5Black's two central knights control a lot of squares.
14. Ne4White also places his knight on a central outpost
14... Nb6Attacks the biship
15. Bb3Retreats keeping an eye on f7. Notice how many squares
the queen and bishop are controlling from the sidelines.

15... a5Rafail must have noticed too and begins an attack to

kick the bishop off the diagonal
16. Rad1Garry repositions his rook into the center of the board.
At this point in the game, white's rooks are on their optimal
squares, controlling central files.
16... a4Oh well, it was nice while it lasted. The bishop is booted
off his perch.
17. Bc2Retreats
17... Nd5The knight returns to resume his dominance in the
center. Notice how many dark squares both knights control.
18. Nc3Garry had to do something about it and attacks Black's
Nd5.
18... Nxc319. bxc3After the knights exchange, white has an
open queenside file.
19... Qd6Black offers to trade queens to stop White's dominance
over the center of the board.
20. Qc1Garry retreats planning on using his queen to attack the
king.
20... Ne721. Ng5He repositions the knight to a more central
kingside outpost.
21... h6Rafail kicks it away
22. Ne4The knight moves to a square that attacks the queen. It
was probably Garry's plan all along.
22... Qc7She retreats keeping an eye on the h2 square
23. Qa3The queen resumes her dominance over the dark square
diagonal
23... Nf5Notice how this knight repositions himself to attack
White's queen.
24. Nc5The knight also sits on an outpost to control central
squares

24... Nd6Do you see where the knight plans on hopping to?
25. Qb4The queen retreats before the knight attacks her
with ...Nc4
25... a3Clever move to prevent the queen from returning to her
a-file outpost
26. Bb3The bright side for White is the bishop can return to his
strong outpost, controlling the central Light squares.
26... Rd8Black repositions his rook into the center of the board
27. Re5Garry places his rook in a commanding square in the
center that controls the e-file and the 5th rank.
27... Re8Rafail challenges his control and attacks the rook
28. Rde1Garry isn't giving it up easily and doubles his rooks for
more Fire Power!
28... Rxe529. dxe5Captures back with the pawn to attack the
knight.
29... Nb5Retreats
30. e6Pushes the pawn to create tactics. If Black doesn't
capture he'll push it again to make a passed pawn.
30... Bxe631. Rxe6Black can not capture the rook. Notice how
White's bishop defends the rook and attacks Black's king through
the rook.
31... b6Instead, Rafail attacked the knight
(31... fxe6If Black captures the rook 32. Nxe6The knight
captures back with an attack on the
queen 32... Qd6Offers a trade of queens. 33. Nc7+POW!
A discovered check by the bishop and the knight attacks
the rook 33... Kh8Retreats 34. Qxd6Nxd635. Nxa8After
the dust settles, White is UP a whole piece and has the
advantage in the endgame. )32. Qe4Garry forms a battery
with the rook and defends the king's escape square on h7. His

attack is so strong he can even hang his knight.

32... bxc5Takes the knight but it won't help what's to come.
33. Re8+STEP ONE: Check the king
33... Rxe834. Qxe8+STEP TWO: Recapture with check
34... Kh735. Bxf7STEP THREE: The bishop closes off the kings
exit squares and threatens a mate in one.
35... h5Black pushes the pawn to give the king a safe retreating
square
36. Qg8+STEP FOUR: Check the king
36... Kh637. h4STEP FIVE: BAM! Garry shuts the door on the
king who's trapped on the h-file and threatens a mate in one...
Black resigned here.
37... Qxf7IF the game continued, the only move to stop the
immediate mate was a queen sacrifice to capture the bishop.
38. Qxf7With Blacks isolated double pawns and a knight vs a
queen in the endgame, white had a strong advantage.

Now let's watch Black WIN with the same

opening. This game was played in 2015 at
The London Chess Classic Open:
Fernando M. Semprun Martinez vs. Tamas
Fodor Jr
London Chess Classic Open | Dec 2015 | ECO: C54 | 0-1
1. e4e52. Nf3Nc63. Bc4Bc54. c3Nf65. d4ed46. cd4Bb47. Bd2
Bd28. Nbd2Normal Opening Moves
8... d5Black strikes in the center to disrupt white's pawn center
9. ed5Nd510. Qb3We again see the Queen/Bishop battery
eyeing the f7 square
10... Nce7Black defends the knight
11. O-OBoth sides retreat their kings out of the center and into

safety.
11... O-O12. Ne4White brings his knight into the center of the
board.
12... c6Defends the knight for a third time. Notice after 40
years since Kasparov played the above game we reviewed, the
same opening moves hold true in 2015.
13. Rfe1Rook controls the e-file.
13... Qb6In this game, Black challenged the queen's position
immediately with ...Qb6.
14. Nc5White repositions his knight to gain a tempo
14... Qb3Black immediately takes White's queen.
15. Bb3A big fire power has been removed from the board.
15... h6Defends the g5 square
16. Rac1Repositions the rook to control the half-opened c-file
16... Rd8Black x-rays the hanging d4 pawn.
17. h3Defends the g4 square
17... Kf8The king acts as a second defender to Ne7
18. a3White pushes the a-pawn to take away the b4 square from
the knight to use as an outpost
18... Rb8Defends b7 from the knight.
19. Kh2b6Kicks the knight away
20. Nd3Retreats
20... Be6Repostions the bishop to a better square that defends
the knight a second time
21. Nfe5The knight adds pressure to Black's center squares
21... Rbc8Defends the c6 pawn which is attacked twice.
22. Bd5White attempts to open the center by capturing the
knight
22... Bd5Bishop recpatures with a bee-line to the kingside.
23. Nb4Puts pressure on the bishop and pawn, who are well

defended.
23... f6Kicks the knight away
24. Nd5Grabs the bishop who's controlling the light squares
around white's king.
24... Rd5Recaptures
25. Nf3Kf726. Rc2g5Black pushes his kingside pawns, taking
away squares from White
27. Rce2Doubles the rooks to attack Ne7
27... Rd7Defends the knight
28. g4h5Black pushes the pawn to open White's kingside further
29. Re4Rh8The rook x-rays the king, prepares to capture the
pawn if it exchanges and puts pressure on the h-file
30. h4hg4The pawn breaks through with an attack on the
knight
31. Rg4Nf532. Rc1White creates a counter attack on the
queenside...Attacking the undefended c6 pawn
32... Rd6Defends
33. Kh3Supports the h4 pawn
33... Re6Controls the open e-file
34. Rc2Prevents the rook from entering on the 2nd rank
34... Ke735. d5cd536. Rc7Kd637. Ra7Re2Now the rook can
put pressure on white's 2nd rank and attacks both the f2 and b2
pawns.
38. Nd4Nd439. Rd4Rb240. f3Rb3BAM! White's king is
overloaded. Both pawns defending the king are under attack.
Black's rooks are both in aggressive attacking roles while White's
rooks are playing defensive roles. White Resigned ...

The Giuoci Piano is one of the oldest played

openings throughout chess history. Having a

familiar knowledge of the opening moves to

position
your
pieces
into
their
optimum
positions, from both sides of the board, will only
improve your confidence and chess skills.

I annotated the games so you could better

understood the player's plan and strategies.
Notice that GM Kasparov's game had stronger
plans of attack and every move he made was to
either improve his piece's placement or prepare for
an even stronger attack. He avoided unnecessary
corner pawn moves, which we saw in the above
game. A lesson we should all take to heart.

I hope this has shed some light on How to Play

The Giuoco Piano Opening from both sides.
Look for the next in the series and feel free to
send a friend request to be notified of future
articles.
Until
then....Cheers.