Open · a plan for White
Italian Game: Bird's Attack
9/9
1.e4e52.Nf3Nc63.Bc4Bc54.c3Nf65.b4
Live databaseLichess 1600–2000 · blitz + rapid
Italian Game: Bird's Attack220k games · Black to move
MoveWhite / draw / BlackPlayedGamesScore
81%177k53%
10%22k51%
4.8%11k50%
3.4%7.5k52%
0.2%53733%
0.2%47631%
0.1%31326%
0.1%30625%
0.1%23331%
0.1%19728%
Famous games in this line367 master games
Aronian, Levon (2825) – Kramnik, Vladimir (2801)Caruana, F. (2823) – Nakamura, Hi (2779)Jobava, Ba (2665) – Caruana, F. (2808)Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar (2760) – Eljanov, Pavel (2692)Jobava, Baadur (2707) – Eljanov, Pavel (2742)Jobava, Baadur (2710) – Fressinet, Laurent (2718)Areshchenko, Alexander (2664) – Jakovenko, Dmitrij (2736)Fedoseev, Vl3 (2687) – Artemiev, V.. (2709)Heroes of this opening Aronian, Levon · Nakamura, Hi · Jobava, Baadur · Jakovenko, Dmitrij
- Family
- Italian Game
- Category
- Open
- First move
- 1.e4
- ECO
- C53
- Line
- 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Nf6 5. b4
AggressiveClassical
★ Read the guide: Italian GameExplore all 184 Italian Game lines →Keep exploring
Nearby lines in the family
From the archives
The Italian Game appears in the Göttingen manuscript (c. 1500) and in Polerio's notebooks — chess players have been putting the bishop on c4 for more than five hundred years. It fell out of top-level fashion for decades, then came back as White players went looking for a way round the Berlin Defence; Carlsen used the quiet Giuoco Pianissimo in the 2016 world-championship match.
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