Open · a plan for White
Italian Game: Classical Variation, Greco Gambit, Modern Line
11/11
1.e4e52.Nf3Nc63.Bc4Bc54.c3Nf65.d4exd46.e5
Live databaseLichess 1600–2000 · blitz + rapid
Italian Game: Classical Variation, Greco Gambit, Modern Line1.1M games · Black to move
MoveWhite / draw / BlackPlayedGamesScore
20%218k36%
13%140k44%
11%123k33%
4.8%51k34%
1.5%16k33%
1.3%14k16%
1.3%14k28%
0.4%4.0k29%
0.3%3.3k26%
Famous games in this line1.8k master games
Nepomniachtchi, I. (2792) – Carlsen, M. (2855)So, W.. (2770) – Carlsen, M.. (2862)Giri, A.. (2764) – Carlsen, M.. (2862)So, W.. (2770) – Carlsen, M.. (2847)So, W.. (2770) – Carlsen, M.. (2847)So, W.. (2770) – Carlsen, M.. (2847)Aronian, L. (2775) – Ding Liren (2801)Caruana, F. (2819) – So, W. (2754)Heroes of this opening So, W.. · Carlsen, M.. · Aronian, L.
- 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
GambitClassical
★ Read the guide: Italian GameExplore all 184 Italian Game lines →Keep exploring
Go deeper — named lines from here
Italian Game: Classical Variation, Greco Gambit, Anderssen Variation6…d5 7.Bb5 Ne4 8.cxd4 Bb4Italian Game: Classical Variation, Ghulam-Kassim Variation6…Ne4 7.Bd5 Nxf2 8.Kxf2 dxc3 9.Kg3
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