C50 · Open · a plan for White
Italian Game: Giuoco Pianissimo
7/7
1.e4e52.Nf3Nc63.Bc4Bc54.d3
Live databaseLichess 1600–2000 · blitz + rapid
Italian Game: Giuoco Pianissimo6.5M games · Black to move
MoveWhite / draw / BlackPlayedGamesScore
Nf641%2.7M50%
d630%2.0M52%
h624%1.5M50%
Nge72%132k49%
a60.9%57k49%
Qf60.9%56k52%
Nd40.3%21k40%
Na50.2%14k45%
f60.2%14k41%
Famous games in this line4.2k master games
Carlsen, M.. (2847) – Aronian, L.. (2781)Aronian, L. (2767) – Carlsen, M. (2842)Firouzja, Alireza (2767) – Carlsen, M. (2832)Caruana, F. (2817) – Aronian, L. (2774)Carlsen, M.. (2862) – Vidit, S.. (2726)Nepomniachtchi, I. (2755) – Carlsen, M. (2831)Anand, V. (2760) – Caruana, F. (2822)Firouzja, Alireza (2759) – Caruana, F.. (2820)Heroes of this opening Carlsen, M.. · Caruana, F.
Keep exploring
Go deeper — named lines from here
Italian Game: Giuoco Pianissimo, Lucchini GambitC50 4…f5 · 1 deeper lineItalian Game: Giuoco Pianissimo, Italian Four Knights VariationC50 4…Nf6 5.Nc3 · 1 deeper lineItalian Game: Giuoco Pianissimo, Dubois VariationC50 4…f5 5.Ng5 f4Italian Game: Giuoco Pianissimo, Canal VariationC50 4…Nf6 5.Nc3 d6 6.Bg5
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
- C50
- Line
- 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. d3
Classical
★ Read the guide: Italian GameExplore all 184 Italian Game lines →Study this opening elsewhere