Open · a plan for White
Italian Game: Giuoco Piano, Therkatz-Herzog Variation
27/27
1.e4e52.Nf3Nc63.Bc4Bc54.c3Nf65.d4exd46.cxd4Bb4+7.Nc3Nxe48.O-OBxc39.d5Bf610.Re1Ne711.Rxe4d612.Bg5Bxg513.Nxg5O-O14.Nxh7
Live databaseLichess 1600–2000 · blitz + rapid
Italian Game: Giuoco Piano, Therkatz-Herzog Variation5.2k games · Black to move
MoveWhite / draw / BlackPlayedGamesScore
71%3.7k50%
26%1.4k52%
1.5%7643%
0.6%3121%
0.3%1856%
0.1%413%
0%250%
0%10%
Famous games in this line18 master games
Iuldachev, Saidali (2526) – Nguyen, Anh Dung (2525)Rogers, Ian (2515) – Garcia Gonzales, Guillermo (2495)Dueball, Juergen (2460) – Pachman, Ludek (2520)Markovic, Miroslav (2395) – Simic, Radoslav (2485)Dauth, B. (2332) – Schroeder, Ja (2539)Bednarski, Jacek B (2400) – Estrin, Yacov (2440)Blaskowski, Johannes (2368) – Unzicker, Wolfgang (2430)Sevillano, Enrico (2507) – Landaw, Julian W (2279)Heroes of this opening Nguyen, Anh Dung · Rogers, Ian · Dueball, Juergen · Dauth, B.
- 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. d5 Bf6 10. Re1 Ne7 11. Rxe4 d6 12. Bg5 Bxg5 13. Nxg5 O-O 14. Nxh7
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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