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
52%27k39%
37%19k12%
5%2.6k40%
4.6%2.4k34%
0.6%33630%
0.2%10737%
0.1%4726%
0.1%2625%
0%1712%
0%1510%
Famous games in this line1 master games
Schlesinger, Omri (2275) – Roeberg, Frank (2310)- 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 →Keep exploring
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.
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