History
The Giuoco Piano (Italian: "Quiet Game") is the oldest recorded opening. 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. Anatoli Karpov used it 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.
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