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
30%2.0M52%
24%1.5M50%
2%132k49%
0.9%57k49%
0.9%56k52%
0.3%21k40%
0.2%14k45%
0.2%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.
- 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 →Keep exploring
Go deeper — named lines from here
Italian Game: Giuoco Pianissimo, Lucchini Gambit4…f5 · 1 deeper lineItalian Game: Giuoco Pianissimo, Italian Four Knights Variation4…Nf6 5.Nc3 · 1 deeper lineItalian Game: Giuoco Pianissimo, Dubois Variation4…f5 5.Ng5 f4Italian Game: Giuoco Pianissimo, Canal Variation4…Nf6 5.Nc3 d6 6.Bg5
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