Open · a plan for White

Italian Game: Classical Variation, Ghulam-Kassim Variation

17/17
1.e4e52.Nf3Nc63.Bc4Bc54.c3Nf65.d4exd46.e5Ne47.Bd5Nxf28.Kxf2dxc3+9.Kg3
Live databaseLichess 1600–2000 · blitz + rapid
Italian Game: Classical Variation, Ghulam-Kassim Variation5.1k games · Black to move
MoveWhite / draw / BlackPlayedGamesScore
52%2.7k47%
19%97946%
13%68232%
7.5%38339%
2.7%13546%
2.4%12330%
0.9%4830%
0.6%3326%
0.3%1644%
0.3%1429%
Famous games in this line1 master games
Mammadov, Ayaz Arzu (2409) – Abasov, Nijat Azad (2504)2011½–½
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. e5 Ne4 7. Bd5 Nxf2 8. Kxf2 dxc3+ 9. Kg3
Classical
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Nearby lines in the family
Italian Game: Evans Gambit, Morphy Attack4.b4 Bxb4 5.c3 Ba5 6.d4 exd4 …Italian Game: Giuoco Piano, Rosentreter Variation3…Nf6 4.O-O Bc5 5.d4 Bxd4 6.Nxd4 …Italian Game: Two Knights Defense, Paoli Variation3…Nf6 4.Ng5 d5 5.exd5 Na5 6.Bb5 …
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
Videos on YouTube ↗Wikipedia: Italian Game ↗