C54 · Open · a plan for White
Italian Game: Giuoco Piano, Aitken Variation
19/19
1.e4e52.Nf3Nc63.Bc4Bc54.c3Nf65.d4exd46.cxd4Bb4+7.Nc3Nxe48.O-ONxc39.bxc3Bxc310.Ba3
Live databaseLichess 1600–2000 · blitz + rapid
Italian Game: Giuoco Piano, Aitken Variation52k games · Black to move
MoveWhite / draw / BlackPlayedGamesScore
d652%27k39%
Bxa137%19k12%
d55%2.6k40%
Bb44.6%2.4k34%
Ne70.6%33630%
Qf60.2%10737%
Ba50.1%4726%
Nb40.1%2625%
Bb20%1712%
Na50%1510%
Famous games in this line1 master games
Schlesinger, Omri (2275) – Roeberg, Frank (2310)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
- C54
- Line
- 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Nf6 5. d4 exd4 6. cxd4 Bb4+ 7. Nc3 Nxe4 8. O-O Nxc3 9. bxc3 Bxc3 10. Ba3
Classical
★ Read the guide: Italian GameExplore all 184 Italian Game lines →Study this opening elsewhere