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Master The Italian Opening ( Giuoco Piano )

Master The Italian Opening ( Giuoco Piano )

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lM-AKAZA
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GIUOCO PIANO

( Bc5 )

  • Before starting Understand that GIUOCO PIANO OPENING is all about ideas, understanding the key squares , and pawn breaks 
  • After Bc5 it branches out as :-
        1. GIUOCO PIANO PIANISSIMO
        2. CENTRE ATTACK
        3. BIRD ATTACK
  • In this BLOG we will cover GIUOCO PIANO PIANISSIMO

GIUOCO PIANO PIANISSIMO

  • In this position you need to be patient and understand your plans
  • In this position Black has many options d6 ( main line ) , a6 , 0-0 ( castle ) ; But they all lead to same positions 
  • Now lets understand what what each side want to achieve 

FOR BLACK

                • WHITE IS PUTTING PRESSURE ON e5 AND f7 PAWN

                • SO ONE OF A MOVE YOU CAN PLAY d6 DEFENDING e5 PAWN FOLLOWED BY 0-0 ( CASTLE ) TO DEFEND f7 PAWN

                • NOW THE MAIN PROBLEM IS BLACKS E5 PAWN WHITE CAN PLAY b4 - b5 AND IN SOME CASES YOUR e5 PAWN IS TAKEN ( THAT'S WHY WE WANT TO PLAY d6 )

                • AS BLACK IF U GET READ OF ITALIAN BISHOP ( i.e BISHOP ON C4 ) BY PLAY Na5 GIUOCO PIANO IS MUCH MORE EASIER TO PLAY

            •  FOR WHITE

              • WE PLAY c3 TO STRENGTHEN OUR CENTRE AND OUR d4 PAWN BREAK ( MAIN IDEA IN THIS OPENING )

              • d3 SEEMS A LOST OF TEMPO OR  UNNECESSARY MOVE BUT IT IS IMPORTANT BECAUSE TO PROTECT e4 PAWN AND PUT OUR BISHOP ON c2 ( AVOID BISHOP KNIGHT TRADE ) AFTER d6, Bb3, Na5, Bc2 

              • NOW WHAT OUR BISHOP WILL DO ON c2 ???
                1. FIRST WE SAVE OUR BISHOP ( BISHOP PAIR )
                2. BLACKS KNIGHT ON a5 IS BAD
                3. WE FURTHER STRENGTHEN OUR e4 PAWN WHICH IS A COMMONLY TARGET BY BLACK IN GIUOCO PIANO  

THIS IS THE BASIC IDEA WHICH BOTH SIDES WHAT TO ACHIEVE

MOVE ORDER OR CONTINUATION

  • Again Giuoco piano is all about ideas
  • And generally Giuoco piano involves 2 steps :-
        1.  Saving your light square bishop by playing d3 
        2. Maneuvering your pieces to a square where there can generate an attack   
  • Now lemme try to explain some key moves and their idea behind that 

  • why black plays a6 ??
    - For black his dark square bishop is the most active piece in this position so he want to protect it before d4 pawn break by putting it on a7 square 

  • Why h3 ( white ) and h6 ( black ) ??
    - It prevent knights from hopping in to g5 and g4 squares for both White and Black

  • Why we avoid light bishop trade ? 
    - For white his light square bishop or the Italian bishop is a key piece so we try to save that 
    - 2nd most important thing is if we do bishop trade !! Yes black will endup with double pawn structure But that pawn on e6 ( after bishop trade ) will control Key squares that is d5 and f5 ( why this is important we will know further )

  • Where should we develop our knight on b1 ?  
    - The main idea for white is to put his knight on f5 square to control some key squares and generate an attack by sacrificing bishop on h6 ( if black is not careful or if we get a chance ) 
    - If not f5 we can also develop our knight to e3 to block Black's dark square bishop  and control d5 and f5 

  • Where should we develop our dark square bishop ?
    - Generally Whites dark square bishop develop on e3 ( if knight is not there )

  • Why knight h4 ?
    -     Knight h4 is often done to control f5 square twice and to put one of a knight there and as u can see black cant push g7 pawn because h6 pawn is under attack by our dark square bishop ( But there is one trick which white would be aware ) lets see that trick now 
     

POSITIONAL MISTAKE

  • After h5 its seems like a free pawn bt its not ( as u can the board ) white should avoid taking that
  • Instead of that we can play Qg5 trading our Queens and continue our game with a bishop pair advantage  

THAT'S ALL ABOUT GIUOCO PIANO PIANISSIMO 
I HOPE YOU UNDERSTAND THAT AND FEEL FREE TO ASK ANY QUESTIONS ?!