Giuoco Piano | This was NOT a Quiet Game!
#Italian #giuocopiano #giuocopianissimo #gambits
The Italian Game, especially the Giuoco Piano lines can be slow and positional. Giuoco Piano is literally the "quiet game" and the Giuoco Pianissimo the "very quiet game"!
I this game, I played the Two Knights Defense against the Italian, and without thinking, I had transposed the game into the Giuoco Pianissimo... One of the reasons I changed to play the Vienna Game was, in part, to avoid the Italian as I found them a little on the boring side. So, in this game, I decided to play aggressively and bombastically! This was NOT a quiet game of the Giuoco Piano!
On move 6, I leapt forward with my knight (6... Nd4), effectively playing a gambit with my pawn on e5. I knew this wasn't a good move [+4], but it's provocative and spicy, and can result in some interesting positions. Interestingly, White opted to play "slow" with (7. c3), bringing back the evaluation to equality. I trade knights - my goal all along was to remove one of the kingside defenders - and my aggressive play was justified. I knew also that dangerous and unbalanced attacks might work against my opponent!
So, on move 9, I play another provocative move (9... Be6), asking White to trade bishops, which would allow me to open the f-file. White again avoids the confrontation, but in doing so, their bishop was forced to move to a less optimal position on the board.
On move 15, I ignore a threat down the centre to attack White's kingside and manage to open the h-file. Stockfish continues to think I'm a madman [+7], but the game has certainly not become positional, but highly tactical! And on move 20, this tactical line bears fruit with White make a mistake that isn't obviously so, but results in a straight up loss of their rook along their own back rank. I was really pumped that this worked out, though notably, this only brings me back to equality!
My opponent is probably the better player and I lose my advantage in the late middle game and endgame. White managed to get two connected passed pawns and I was dead lost. On move 36, I realised that I was on the verge of being mated, or that one of their connected passed pawns was going to promote to queen. So, I made my last bold gambit of the game! On move 36, I played (36... f3), which hung a mate-in-1. However, if White didn't recognise the pattern of back rank mate with pawns and rook, then I also could checkmate White the next turn. And one of the things with pushing pawns is that you can get tunnel vision that the only goal is promoting to a queen and miss the potential for a rook and pawn mate.
And they did and lost the game. The evaluation bar changes the greatest degree possible, from [+M1] to [-M1], and I managed to get a win that I didn't deserve. As the aphorism goes, "snatching victory from the jaws of defeat"! GG!
Game on chess.com: https://www.chess.com/game/live/71188608217
