Open · a plan for White
Italian Game: Giuoco Pianissimo, Normal
8/8
1.e4e52.Nf3Nc63.Bc4Nf64.d3Bc5
Live databaseLichess 1600–2000 · blitz + rapid
Italian Game: Giuoco Pianissimo, Normal8.5M games · White to move
MoveWhite / draw / BlackPlayedGamesScore
26%2.2M51%
14%1.2M51%
8.4%711k51%
6.4%546k45%
5.8%487k51%
2.8%233k51%
0.7%62k54%
0.6%47k53%
Famous games in this line12k master games
Nepomniachtchi, I. (2782) – Carlsen, M. (2855)Caruana, F. (2805) – Carlsen, M. (2830)Carlsen, M. (2833) – Erigaisi, Arjun (2801)Carlsen, M.. (2862) – So, W.. (2770)Caruana, F. (2789) – Carlsen, M. (2839)Carlsen, M.. (2847) – Giri, A.. (2780)Caruana, F. (2794) – Carlsen, M. (2830)Caruana, F. (2794) – Carlsen, M. (2830)Heroes of this opening Carlsen, M. · Caruana, F.
- Family
- Italian Game
- Category
- Open
- First move
- 1.e4
- ECO
- C50
- Line
- 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. d3 Bc5
Classical
★ 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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