Open · a plan for White
Italian Game: Classical Variation, Greco Gambit, Traditional Line
11/11
1.e4e52.Nf3Nc63.Bc4Bc54.c3Nf65.d4exd46.cxd4
Live databaseLichess 1600–2000 · blitz + rapid
Italian Game: Classical Variation, Greco Gambit, Traditional Line2.7M games · Black to move
MoveWhite / draw / BlackPlayedGamesScore
88%2.4M47%
10%279k41%
0.9%24k38%
0.5%15k29%
0.2%6.2k39%
0.2%4.8k17%
0.1%4.0k28%
0.1%3.0k19%
0.1%1.7k25%
0.1%1.4k28%
Famous games in this line1.2k master games
Nakamura, Hi (2799) – Giri, A. (2776)Radjabov, Teimour (2788) – Karjakin, Sergey (2779)Aronian, L. (2782) – Mamedyarov, S. (2782)So, W. (2772) – Aronian, L. (2782)Caruana, F. (2792) – Nakamura, Hi (2736)Harikrishna, P. (2706) – Aronian, L. (2812)Mamedyarov, S. (2767) – Karjakin, Sergey (2743)Harikrishna, P. (2753) – Tomashevsky, E. (2728)Heroes of this opening Karjakin, Sergey · So, W. · Caruana, F. · Tomashevsky, E.
- 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
GambitClassical
★ Read the guide: Italian GameExplore all 184 Italian Game lines →Keep exploring
Go deeper — named lines from here
Italian Game: Giuoco Piano, Greco's Attack6…Bb4 7.Nc3 · 8 deeper linesItalian Game: Giuoco Piano, Cracow Variation6…Bb4 7.Kf1Italian Game: Classical Variation, Greco Gambit, Main Line6…Bb4 7.Nc3 Nxe4 8.O-O Bxc3 · 4 deeper linesItalian Game: Classical Variation, Greco Gambit, Greco Variation6…Bb4 7.Nc3 Nxe4 8.O-O Nxc3 · 2 deeper lines
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