Open · a plan for White
Italian Game: Giuoco Piano, Cracow Variation
13/13
1.e4e52.Nf3Nc63.Bc4Bc54.c3Nf65.d4exd46.cxd4Bb4+7.Kf1
Live databaseLichess 1600–2000 · blitz + rapid
Italian Game: Giuoco Piano, Cracow Variation13k games · Black to move
MoveWhite / draw / BlackPlayedGamesScore
47%6.1k46%
27%3.5k45%
17%2.2k56%
8.1%1.1k35%
1%12850%
0.2%2623%
0.2%2131%
0.1%1833%
0.1%1015%
0.1%736%
Famous games in this line6 master games
Brusila, Heikki (2287) – Anderson, Brian W (2314)Dauw, Sterre (2309) – Hommerson, P. (2263)Ehmann, Thilo (2283) – Becker, Dirk (2270)Adler, B. (2166) – Lindgren, P. (2382)Shearsby, Jude (2192) – Diaz Velandia, Jose Manuel (2329)Porras Mateo, F. (2350) – Krieger, Markus (2147)Heroes of this opening Dauw, Sterre · Ehmann, Thilo · Lindgren, P. · Diaz Velandia, Jose Manuel
- 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. Kf1
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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