C53 · Open · a plan for White
Italian Game: Classical Variation, Tarrasch Variation
17/17
1.e4e52.Nf3Nc63.Bc4Bc54.c3Qe75.d4Bb66.O-Od67.a4a68.h3Nf69.Re1
Live databaseLichess 1600–2000 · blitz + rapid
Italian Game: Classical Variation, Tarrasch Variation376 games · Black to move
MoveWhite / draw / BlackPlayedGamesScore
h647%17651%
O-O32%11955%
Bd715%5749%
Ba73.2%1225%
exd40.8%333%
a50.8%383%
Nd80.5%250%
Na70.3%1100%
Rg80.3%10%
Na50.3%1100%
Famous games in this line16 master games
Anand, Viswanathan (2770) – Sundararajan, Kidambi (2245)Jovanovic, Zoran2 (2558) – Zupe, Miran (2353)Smirnov, Ant (2527) – Brown, An (2293)Vucinic, G. (2439) – Novoselski, Z. (2323)Fette, Martin (2380) – Weyrich, Morten (2355)Fang, Joseph (2350) – Mac Intyre, Paul (2328)Nemeth, Francisc (2458) – Espineira Gonzalez, Pablo D (2213)Gjuran, D. (2324) – Zupe, M. (2277)Heroes of this opening Anand, Viswanathan · Jovanovic, Zoran2 · Smirnov, Ant · Fette, Martin
Keep exploring
Nearby lines in the family
From the archives
The Italian Game is in the Göttingen manuscript and Polerio's notebooks — chess players have been putting the bishop on c4 for more than four centuries. It fell out of top-level fashion for decades, then returned as a main weapon of Carlsen and Caruana, proving the oldest plans still bite.
- Family
- Italian Game
- Category
- Open
- First move
- 1.e4
- ECO
- C53
- Line
- 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Qe7 5. d4 Bb6 6. O-O d6 7. a4 a6 8. h3 Nf6 9. Re1
Classical
★ Read the guide: Italian GameExplore all 184 Italian Game lines →Study this opening elsewhere