Open · a plan for White

Italian Game: Classical Variation, Greco Gambit, Greco Variation

16/16
1.e4e52.Nf3Nc63.Bc4Bc54.c3Nf65.d4exd46.cxd4Bb4+7.Nc3Nxe48.O-ONxc3
Live databaseLichess 1600–2000 · blitz + rapid
Italian Game: Classical Variation, Greco Gambit, Greco Variation272k games · White to move
MoveWhite / draw / BlackPlayedGamesScore
92%250k65%
4.3%12k52%
1.9%5.2k53%
0.9%2.4k46%
0.5%1.4k47%
0.2%66413%
0.1%2536%
0%3639%
0%2638%
0%2043%
Famous games in this line4 master games
Shumiakina, Tatiana (2375) – Litinskaya, Marta I (2335)1997½–½Fabrega, Enrique (2275) – De Souza, Mauro Guimaraes (2355)19950–1Boricsev, O. (2343) – Sevostianov, P. (2248)2017½–½Schlesinger, Omri (2275) – Roeberg, Frank (2310)1994½–½
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. cxd4 Bb4+ 7. Nc3 Nxe4 8. O-O Nxc3
GambitClassical
★ Read the guide: Italian GameExplore all 184 Italian Game lines →
Keep exploring
Go deeper — named lines from here
Italian Game: Giuoco Piano, Aitken Variation9.bxc3 Bxc3 10.Ba3Italian Game: Giuoco Piano, Bernstein Variation9.bxc3 Bxc3 10.Qb3 d5
Nearby lines in the family
Italian Game: Two Knights Defense, Colman Variation3…Nf6 4.Ng5 d5 5.exd5 Na5 6.Bb5 …Italian Game: Two Knights Defense, Blackburne Variation3…Nf6 4.Ng5 d5 5.exd5 Na5 6.Bb5 …Italian Game: Evans Gambit, McDonnell Defense, Main Line4.b4 Bxb4 5.c3 Bc5 6.d4 exd4 …
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 ↗