C50 · Open · a plan for White
Italian Game: Blackburne-Kostić Gambit
6/6
1.e4e52.Nf3Nc63.Bc4Nd4
Live databaseLichess 1600–2000 · blitz + rapid
Italian Game: Blackburne-Kostić Gambit4.2M games · White to move
MoveWhite / draw / BlackPlayedGamesScore
42%1.8M58%
18%769k25%
13%559k54%
12%496k57%
7%296k55%
3.7%154k55%
2.9%122k57%
0.3%14k18%
0.2%6.3k51%
0.1%6.0k53%
Famous games in this line2 master games
Martic, Zlatko (2265) – Galeev, Shamil (2280)Luciani, Carlo (2225) – Petrovic, Marija (2210)Heroes of this opening Martic, Zlatko · Luciani, Carlo
- Family
- Italian Game
- Category
- Open
- First move
- 1.e4
- ECO
- C50
- Line
- 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nd4
GambitClassical
★ Read the guide: Italian GameExplore all 184 Italian Game lines →Keep exploring
Nearby lines in the family
From the archives
The Italian Game is in the Göttingen manuscript and Polerio's notebooks — chess players have been putting the bishop on c4 for more than four centuries. It fell out of top-level fashion for decades, then returned as a main weapon of Carlsen and Caruana, proving the oldest plans still bite.
Study this opening