# Game #499: the Giuoco Piano Na5 plan I started and didn't finish

> Game #499: in a Giuoco Piano as Black I played Na5, the engine's move, to hunt White's bishop. Then I left it on b3 and played three other plans.

- URL: https://thechesscoach.netlify.app/journey/opening-lesson-game-499/
- Updated: 2026-10-28
- Author: Ignacio Soler

On June 3, 2024, in game #499 of my rapid journey, I had Black in a Giuoco Piano against **Bobthebuilder222333 (993)**. On move 7 I played the knight to a5, which was exactly what Stockfish wanted: the knight attacks White's bishop, the one that sits on c4 and looks at f7. White stepped the bishop back to b3, and on three of the next four moves the engine had the capture on b3 among its top choices for me. I never made it.

The game itself went on for 63 moves, and I lost it in a rook endgame I should have won. That part has [its own post](/journey/collapse-game-499/). This one is only about the first fourteen moves, because the series picked game #499 as a Giuoco Piano lesson, and the lesson is in the opening.

## Where I was

Game #499 was my sixth game in [week 22 of the journey](/journey/week-2024-w23/), the week of 91 blunders. It was also my fourth loss in a row that Monday: before it I had lost to StrawHat_Mike47, marivet88 and Victorlutte, and I came in at 960.

The Giuoco Piano with Black was already a sore spot. Before this game, my record as Black in games Chess.com labels simply "Giuoco Piano Game" was 4 wins, 11 losses and 1 draw, and the most recent loss among them was [game #480](/journey/opening-lesson-game-480/), the one where I missed the Bxf2+ trick.

| | |
|---|---|
| Game | #499, June 3, 2024 |
| Opponent | Bobthebuilder222333 (993) |
| My colour, rating after | Black, 953 (from 960) |
| Time control | 15 minutes + 10 seconds per move |
| Opening | Giuoco Piano Game (C50) |
| Result | Loss, game abandoned on move 63 |
| Opening accuracy (first 12 moves) | 78.1, with three mistakes or blunders |
| Whole game (Stockfish) | Me 58.8, White 77.1 |

## The Giuoco Piano Na5 idea

The moves were 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.O-O d6 5.Nc3 Nf6 6.d3 O-O 7.h3. Up to here nothing was wrong on either side: the evaluation never left the range between 0.00 and +0.40.

What I didn't know then is that on move 6 Stockfish already had a plan for me: its first choice was not castling but 6...Na5. I castled, White played 7.h3, and the engine still wanted the same thing. This time I played it: **7...Na5**.

In a Giuoco Piano, White's bishop on c4 is the piece that makes Black's life uncomfortable. It points at f7, the square next to my king, and it supports every Ng5 idea. A knight on a5 attacks it. White can retreat the bishop or let it be traded, and either way Black has done something about it. White chose 8.Bb3. From b3 the bishop still looks at f7, and my knight on a5 still attacks it.

So after move 8 I had the plan half done. The second half was one capture.

## Moment 1: the bishop to d4

> **Game #499, move 8: White's bishop has just gone back to b3, in front of my knight on a5**
> Position (FEN): `r1bq1rk1/ppp2ppp/3p1n2/n1b1p3/4P3/1BNP1N1P/PPP2PP1/R1BQ1RK1 b - - 2 8`
> Played: Bd4 — Bd4, my bishop goes forward and attacks the knight on c3
> Better: c6 — c6, a quiet pawn move, "about equal"

I moved the other bishop instead, to d4, attacking the knight on c3. The engine called it a mistake: +0.03 to +1.32 (evaluations are from White's side, so plus means better for White). Its line for White was simply 9.Nxd4 exd4, trading a knight for my good bishop and leaving me a pawn on d4.

The engine's own move, 8...c6, looks like nothing. Its line runs 9.Na4 Bb6 10.Nxb6 axb6: White's knight hunts my bishop the way my knight was hunting White's. Its third choice was the capture I'm writing about, 8...Nxb3, at about equal. All three were fine. Bd4 wasn't.

White didn't take on d4. 9.Bd2 was a mistake too, and the evaluation came back to +0.20.

## Moment 2: a pawn move instead of a plan

> **Game #499, move 9: my bishop on d4 can still be taken by the knight on f3**
> Position (FEN): `r1bq1rk1/ppp2ppp/3p1n2/n3p3/3bP3/1BNP1N1P/PPPB1PP1/R2Q1RK1 b - - 4 9`
> Played: b6 — b6, a pawn move on the queen's side
> Better: Bb6 — Bb6, the bishop steps back, "about equal"

I played b6, another mistake by the engine's count: +0.20 to +1.42. The bishop on d4 was still sitting where the knight on f3 could take it, and 10.Nxd4 exd4 came on the next move. The engine wanted the bishop back on b6. And on this move too, 9...Nxb3 was in its top three.

I can see the pattern now. I had started a plan with the knight and then kept playing moves that belonged to other plans.

## Moment 3: the big one, 11...c5

After 10.Nxd4 exd4, White's knight on c3 jumped to d5. The engine marked 11.Nd5 as a mistake (its move was 11.Ne2), and the position was close to level again, +0.23.

> **Game #499, move 11: White's knight on d5 sits in front of my knight on f6**
> Position (FEN): `r1bq1rk1/p1p2ppp/1p1p1n2/n2N4/3pP3/1B1P3P/PPPB1PP1/R2Q1RK1 b - - 1 11`
> Played: c5 — c5, a pawn move that supports my pawn on d4
> Better: Nxb3 — Nxb3, knight takes the bishop and attacks the rook on a1 and the bishop on d2, "about equal"

This time knight takes b3 was Stockfish's first choice, and I played c5. The engine called it a blunder: **+0.23 to +4.77**, "white is winning".

The reason isn't on the queen's side at all. The engine's answer for White was 12.Bg5: the bishop attacks my knight on f6, and behind it stands my queen on d8. With White's knight already on d5 also hitting f6, the line goes 12.Bg5 Nxb3 13.axb3 Be6 14.Nxf6+ gxf6, and my king is left with broken pawns in front of it. Taking on b3 first, 11...Nxb3 12.Nxf6+ Qxf6 13.axb3, keeps the position level, because my queen gets to recapture on f6.

White didn't find Bg5. 12.Nxf6+ was a blunder by the engine's count (+4.77 to +1.42), and I recaptured with the queen.

## What happened to the knight on a5

Here's the part that still annoys me. After 12...Qxf6 White played 13.Bd5, I answered 13...Bb7 (the engine's move), and White traded: 14.Bxb7 Nxb7. My knight finally left a5 and did capture the Italian bishop, but only as a recapture, after that bishop had taken mine. Instead of my knight for White's best bishop, I got a plain bishop-for-bishop trade and kept a knight that had spent seven moves on the edge of the board.

That knight came back to a5 on move 23, went to c4, and then wandered: b2, d3, f2. Two of those trips were blunders, and they're in the [collapse post](/journey/collapse-game-499/), together with the rook endgame.

## Na5 again the next day

The next day, in [game #506](/journey/collapse-game-506/), I had Black in a Giuoco Piano again, against ConfusedMatrix (1022). On move 7 the engine's first choice was once more 7...Na5. I played 7...Kh8, a king move that Stockfish rated a blunder (+4.41), and that game turned into a mess around my king. Two Giuoco Pianos in two days, and the same knight move was on the board in both.

After game #506 my record in games labelled "Giuoco Piano Game" with Black stood at 4 wins, 13 losses and 1 draw.

## The lesson I took from game #499

**A plan is two moves, not one.** Na5 only means something if the knight takes the bishop, or if the threat to take it makes White do something worse. I played the first move because it looked active and then forgot why I'd played it. On moves 8 and 9 the capture on b3 was in the engine's top three, and on move 11 it was the best move on the board.

**When the bishop is attacked, check what it defends.** On move 11, taking on b3 wasn't just about winning the bishop pair. It also kept my queen ready to recapture on f6. Before a pawn move like c5, I now ask what the opponent's next forcing move is (here, Bg5 pinning my knight to my queen) and whether my move does anything about it.

**Read the engine's first choice even when you played well.** Move 7 was the engine's move, and that made me think the opening went fine. It didn't. My opening accuracy was 78.1, with a mistake on move 8, another on move 9 and a blunder on move 11.

Looking further down the journey, Na5 followed by taking the bishop shows up again and again in my Giuoco Piano games with Black. At the time of game #499 I hadn't learned it yet.

## What came next

The game went on and I lost it from a winning rook endgame, the story told in [game #499: the rook endgame](/journey/collapse-game-499/). That evening I beat 0yyyzu (1015) and alonsomorris (987) and climbed back to 972. The week is in [week 22](/journey/week-2024-w23/), and the whole series is on [the journey page](/journey/). You can [replay game #499 on Chess.com](https://www.chess.com/game/live/111163335811).

If you'd like a structured way to go over your own openings like this, I wrote [how to analyze chess games as a beginner](/guides/how-to-analyze-chess-games-as-a-beginner/). Chess Coach does the same inside Claude or ChatGPT: it shows the move you played, the engine's choice and why in plain words. Here's [how the analysis works](/features/ai-chess-analysis/).

## FAQ

### What is the idea of Na5 in the Giuoco Piano?

In my game, after 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.O-O d6 5.Nc3 Nf6 6.d3 O-O 7.h3, the knight jump 7...Na5 attacked White's bishop on c4, the piece that aims at f7. Stockfish's first choice was Na5 on move 6 and again on move 7. The point is to trade the knight for that bishop.

### Why didn't Na5 work in game #499?

Because I never took the bishop. White retreated it to b3, and I spent the next moves on 8...Bd4, 9...b6 and 11...c5. On move 11 the engine's first choice was 11...Nxb3; my 11...c5 took the evaluation from +0.23 to +4.77.

### What happened to the knight from a5?

It stayed on a5 until move 14. By then White had used the Italian bishop to take my light-squared bishop on b7, and the knight only recaptured. So I got a bishop-for-bishop trade instead of my knight for White's best bishop.

## Related

- [From 631 to 1385: my chess journey in 2,117 games](https://thechesscoach.netlify.app/journey.md)
- [Game 499: a rook endgame with connected passed pawns I lost](https://thechesscoach.netlify.app/journey/collapse-game-499.md)
- [Week 22 (Jun 2024): 91 blunders in 29 games and a stalemate](https://thechesscoach.netlify.app/journey/week-2024-w23.md)
- [The Bxf2+ trick in the Italian Game that I didn't play](https://thechesscoach.netlify.app/journey/opening-lesson-game-480.md)
- [Game 506: my opponent missed mate in one twice, and I lost](https://thechesscoach.netlify.app/journey/collapse-game-506.md)