Open · a plan for White
Italian Game: Classical Variation
7/7
1.e4e52.Nf3Nc63.Bc4Bc54.c3
Live databaseLichess 1600–2000 · blitz + rapid
Italian Game: Classical Variation12.3M games · Black to move
MoveWhite / draw / BlackPlayedGamesScore
28%3.5M47%
4.6%560k43%
2.7%334k43%
2.4%299k54%
2%240k47%
1.6%199k51%
0.4%45k47%
0.3%39k42%
Famous games in this line14k master games
Caruana, Fabiano (2835) – Carlsen, Magnus (2863)Nepomniachtchi, I. (2792) – Carlsen, M. (2855)Kramnik, V. (2808) – Carlsen, M. (2832)Nepomniachtchi, I. (2773) – Carlsen, M. (2865)So, W.. (2770) – Carlsen, M.. (2862)Caruana, F. (2823) – Kramnik, Vladimir (2809)Duda, Jan Krzysztof (2758) – Carlsen, Magnus (2872)Carlsen, M. (2847) – Aronian, L. (2782)Heroes of this opening Carlsen, Magnus · Kramnik, V. · So, W..
- Family
- Italian Game
- Category
- Open
- First move
- 1.e4
- ECO
- C53
- Line
- 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3
Classical
★ Read the guide: Italian GameExplore all 184 Italian Game lines →Keep exploring
Go deeper — named lines from here
Italian Game: Classical Variation, Closed Variation4…Qe7 · 4 deeper linesItalian Game: Bird's Attack4…Nf6 5.b4Italian Game: Classical Variation, Center Attack4…Nf6 5.d4 · 17 deeper linesItalian Game: Classical Variation, Giuoco Pianissimo4…Nf6 5.d3 · 5 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