Chess Opening Theory/1. e4/1...e5/2. Nf3/2...Nc6/3. Bc4/3...Bc5/4. c3

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
Position in Forsyth-Edwards Notation (FEN) r1bqk1nr/pppp1ppp/2n5/2b1p3/2B1P3/2P2N2/PP1P1PPP/RNBQK2R b
Moves: 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3

Giuoco Piano

4. c3

White reinforces the d4 square, and prepares d4 in order to establish two pawns in the centre. It also stops any Nd4 by black, in the future.

White also prepares b4 to try and trap the Black bishop. White's secondary aim is to bring the queen to b3, thus intensifying the pressure on Black's f7-pawn.

A drawback to this move is that the pawn occupies a square that should be reserved for the queen's knight.

Theory table

For explanation of theory tables, see theory table and for notation, see algebraic notation.

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3

	4	5	6	7
	... Nf6	d3 d6	O-O O-O	Re1 Bg4	=
Closed	... Qe7	d4 Bb6	O-O d6	Bg5 Nf6	+=

References

• Kasparov, Garry, & Keene, Raymond 1989 Batsford chess openings 2. ISBN 0-8050-3409-9.