Open · a plan for White
Italian Game: Classical Variation, Greco Gambit, Moeller-Bayonet Attack
23/23
1.e4e52.Nf3Nc63.Bc4Bc54.c3Nf65.d4exd46.cxd4Bb4+7.Nc3Nxe48.O-OBxc39.d5Bf610.Re1Ne711.Rxe4d612.g4
Live databaseLichess 1600–2000 · blitz + rapid
Italian Game: Classical Variation, Greco Gambit, Moeller-Bayonet Attack1.0k games · Black to move
MoveWhite / draw / BlackPlayedGamesScore
57%57948%
37%37856%
3.5%3642%
1.2%1246%
0.4%450%
0.1%10%
0.1%10%
0.1%10%
0.1%150%
0.1%10%
Famous games in this line7 master games
Remis Fernández, Jesús Julio (2408) – Romm, Mikhail Yakovlevich (2458)Nosov, Andrey (2345) – Sumaneev, Dmitry (2435)Heika, Martin (2346) – Baldauf, Marco (2358)Annaberdiyev, B. (2146) – Kuybokarov, Temur (2549)Bandelj, Mirko (2350) – Potrata, Janko (2326)Burgos Figueroa, Carlos Ernesto (2302) – Montero Melendez, Rafael (2278)Nordenbaek, Jan (2237) – Naes, Flovin Tor (2280)Heroes of this opening Baldauf, Marco · Kuybokarov, Temur · Nordenbaek, Jan
- 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 Bf6 10. Re1 Ne7 11. Rxe4 d6 12. g4
GambitAggressiveClassical
★ Read the guide: Italian GameExplore all 184 Italian Game lines →Keep exploring
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.
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