Giuoco Piano

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

Moves

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5

ECO

C50–C54

Origin

16th century

Named after

Italian: "Quiet Game"

Parent

Italian Game

Synonym(s)

Italian Opening

The Giuoco Piano (Italian: "Quiet Game"; pronounced [dʒwɔːko ˈpjaːno]) is a chess opening beginning with the moves:

Common alternatives to 3...Bc5 include 3...Nf6 (the Two Knights Defense) and 3...Be7 (the Hungarian Defense). Much less common are 3...d6 (the Semi-Italian Opening), 3...g6, 3...Nd4 (the Blackburne Shilling Gambit), and 3...f5.

The Giuoco Piano is one of the oldest recorded openings. The Portuguese Damiano played it at the beginning of the 16th century and the Italian Greco played it at the beginning of the 17th century. The opening is also known as the Italian Game (Pinski 2005:5), although that name is also used to describe all games starting with 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4, regardless of Black's third move (Gufeld & Stetsko 1996:5). The Giuoco Piano was popular through the 19th century, but modern refinements in defensive play have led most chess masters towards openings like the Ruy Lopez that offer White greater chances for long term initiative.

In modern play, grandmasters have shown distinct preference for the slower and more strategic Giuoco Pianissimo (4.d3). Anatoli Karpov used the Giuoco Pianissimo against Viktor Korchnoi twice in the 1981 World Championship tournament, with both games ending in a draw;Garry Kasparov used it against Joël Lautier at Linares 1994, resigning after 26 moves;Vladimir Kramnik chose it against Teimour Radjabov at Linares (2004);Viswanathan Anand used it to defeat Jon Hammer in 2010; and Magnus Carlsen used it against Hikaru Nakamura at London 2011, winning in 41 moves.

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Wikipedia