Open · a plan for White
Italian Game: Giuoco Piano, Krause Variation
23/23
1.e4e52.Nf3Nc63.Bc4Bc54.c3Nf65.d4exd46.cxd4Bb4+7.Bd2Nxe48.Bxb4Nxb49.Bxf7+Kxf710.Qb3+d511.Ne5+Kf612.f3
Live databaseLichess 1600–2000 · blitz + rapid
Italian Game: Giuoco Piano, Krause Variation166 games · Black to move
MoveWhite / draw / BlackPlayedGamesScore
40%6623%
28%4614%
12%208%
4.8%813%
3%50%
2.4%450%
1.8%333%
1.8%30%
1.2%20%
1.2%20%
Famous games in this line1 master games
Hmadi, Slaheddine (2320) – Norri, Joose (2375)- 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. Bd2 Nxe4 8. Bxb4 Nxb4 9. Bxf7+ Kxf7 10. Qb3+ d5 11. Ne5+ Kf6 12. f3
Classical
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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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