Giuoco Piano, Greco's Attack

Greco's Attack, also known as Greco's Gambit, is the traditional way of blocking the bishop check in the 5. d4 Classical line of the Giuoco Piano. Instead of interposing with 7. Bd2, which invites a bishop trade and keeps material level, 7. Nc3 blocks with a knight and leaves e4 unprotected. White accepts the loss of a central pawn in return for a lead in development, open lines and chances against the black king.

Black usually takes with 7...Nxe4, the choice in well over half of the games, while 7...Bxc3+ and 7...O-O are the main alternatives. After 7...Nxe4 8. O-O the play becomes very forcing. 8...Bxc3 9. d5 is the Møller Attack, whose Therkatz-Herzog line has been analyzed to a draw. After 8...Bxc3 9. bxc3 d5 10. Ba3, the game enters the Steinitz Variation. If Black plays 8...Nxc3 9. bxc3 Bxc3, Greco's trap 10. Qb3 is met by the Bernstein Variation 10...d5, and 10. Ba3 is the Aitken Variation. The engine considers the position roughly balanced, and White scores slightly better in online games.