Open · a plan for White
Italian Game: Giuoco Piano, Steinitz Variation
19/19
1.e4e52.Nf3Nc63.Bc4Bc54.c3Nf65.d4exd46.cxd4Bb4+7.Nc3Nxe48.O-OBxc39.bxc3d510.Ba3
Live databaseLichess 1600–2000 · blitz + rapid
Italian Game: Giuoco Piano, Steinitz Variation4.8k games · Black to move
MoveWhite / draw / BlackPlayedGamesScore
64%3.1k48%
13%61340%
11%54542%
6%29146%
3.5%16944%
1.1%5423%
0.3%1443%
0.2%1242%
0.2%1123%
0.1%425%
Famous games in this line2 master games
Latas, Boguslaw (2310) – Zielinski, Marek (2395)Eichner, S. (2364) – Wetscherek, A. (2319)Heroes of this opening Zielinski, Marek · Eichner, S.
- 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 Bxc3 9. bxc3 d5 10. Ba3
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.
Study this opening