Open · a plan for White
Italian Game: Classical Variation, Greco Gambit, Moeller-Therkatz Attack
17/17
1.e4e52.Nf3Nc63.Bc4Bc54.c3Nf65.d4exd46.cxd4Bb4+7.Nc3Nxe48.O-OBxc39.d5
Live databaseLichess 1600–2000 · blitz + rapid
Italian Game: Classical Variation, Greco Gambit, Moeller-Therkatz Attack176k games · Black to move
MoveWhite / draw / BlackPlayedGamesScore
38%66k55%
23%41k48%
15%26k35%
12%22k42%
7.1%12k43%
1.6%2.9k47%
1.5%2.7k46%
1%1.7k20%
0.3%47737%
0.2%33848%
Famous games in this line194 master games
Van Foreest, Jorden (2688) – Aronian, L. (2782)Gashimov, Vugar (2740) – Dominguez Perez, Leinier (2713)Dzindzichashvili, Roman (2530) – Karpov, Anatoly (2715)Beerdsen, Thomas (2496) – L'Ami, E. (2627)Felgaer, Ruben (2561) – Lafuente, Pablo (2524)Iuldachev, Saidali (2526) – Nguyen, Anh Dung (2525)Chen, Qi b (2485) – Zhang Pengxiang (2564)Rogers, Ian (2515) – Garcia Gonzales, Guillermo (2495)Heroes of this opening Van Foreest, Jorden · L'Ami, E. · Lafuente, Pablo · Nguyen, Anh Dung
- Family
- Italian Game
- Category
- Open
- First move
- 1.e4
- ECO
- C54
- Line
- 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Nf6 5. d4 exd4 6. cxd4 Bb4+ 7. Nc3 Nxe4 8. O-O Bxc3 9. d5
GambitAggressiveClassical
★ Read the guide: Italian GameExplore all 184 Italian Game lines →Keep exploring
Go deeper — named lines from here
Italian Game: Classical Variation, Greco Gambit, Moeller-Bayonet Attack9…Bf6 10.Re1 Ne7 11.Rxe4 d6 12.g4Italian Game: Giuoco Piano, Therkatz-Herzog Variation9…Bf6 10.Re1 Ne7 11.Rxe4 d6 12.Bg5 …
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.
Study this opening