Italian Game ♜ ♛ ♜ ♚ ♟ ♟ ♟ ♝ ♟ ♟ ♟ ♞ ♟ ♝ ♞ ♟ ♟ ♝ ♟ ♟ ♞ ♟ ♟ ♟ ♟ ♟ ♜ ♞ ♝ ♛ ♜ ♚ The Italian Game, 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4, is a classical open game that aims the bishop at the weak f7 square. Today the slow Giuoco Pianissimo set-up with d3 and c3 is a favourite of elite players, offering solid positions rich in manoeuvring.
1302 master games
2629 avg. Elo
11 variations
White wins %30 · draw %53 · Black wins %18
Played by: Caruana, Gukesh, Abdusattorov, Wei Yi, So, Firouzja, Praggnanandhaa, Keymer
Main line 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.d3 Be7 5.O-O O-O 6.Re1 d6 7.a4 Be6 8.Nbd2 Bxc4 9.Nxc4 h6 10.c3 Re8 11.b4 Bf8 12.b5 Nb8 13.Qb3 a5 14.Ba3 Re6 15.Ncd2 Nbd7
Learn every line move by move on an interactive board with Stockfish 19 evaluation, model games and spaced repetition. Also: every chess tournament worldwide and 4,100+ puzzles.
Try 7 days free → Variations played by masters (11) Two Knights Defense, Modern Bishop's Opening · ECO C55 · for White 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.d3 Be7 5.O-O O-O 6.Re1 d6 7.a4 Be6 8.Nbd2 Bxc4 9.Nxc4 h6 10.c3 Re8 …
378 games · avg. Elo 2636 · W/D/L 101/216/61 · Model game: Suleymanli – Nogerbek, 2025 (1-0)
Classical Variation, Giuoco Pianissimo · ECO C54 · for White 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.c3 Nf6 5.d3 d6 6.O-O a5 7.Re1 O-O 8.h3 h6 9.Nbd2 Be6 10.Bb5 Nd7 …
273 games · avg. Elo 2624 · W/D/L 86/138/49 · Model game: Sevian – Deac, 2024 (1/2-1/2)
Giuoco Pianissimo, Normal · ECO C50 · for White 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.d3 Bc5 5.c3 d6 6.O-O a5 7.Re1 O-O 8.h3 Be6 9.Bb5 Ba7 10.Nbd2 Ne7 …
264 games · avg. Elo 2630 · W/D/L 89/126/49 · Model game: Bologan – Svane, 2026 (0-1)
Giuoco Pianissimo · ECO C50 · for White 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.d3 Nf6 5.O-O d6 6.c3 a5 7.Re1 O-O 8.h3 Be6 9.Bb5 Ba7 10.Nbd2 Ne7 …
170 games · avg. Elo 2626 · W/D/L 43/89/38 · Model game: Oparin – Bok, 2024 (1-0)
Two Knights Defense, Polerio Defense, Bishop Check Line · ECO C58 · for White 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Ng5 d5 5.exd5 Na5 6.Bb5+ c6 7.dxc6 bxc6 8.Bd3 Nd5 9.Nf3 Bd6 10.O-O Nf4 …
41 games · avg. Elo 2616 · W/D/L 16/18/7 · Model game: Aditya – Sargissian, 2025 (1-0)
Giuoco Piano · ECO C50 · for White 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.O-O Nf6 5.d3 O-O 6.Nbd2 d6 7.c3 a5 8.Re1 Be6 9.Bb5 Qb8 10.Nf1 Qa7 …
38 games · avg. Elo 2654 · W/D/L 9/22/7 · Model game: Aronian – So, 2024 (1/2-1/2)
Giuoco Pianissimo, Italian Four Knights Variation · ECO C50 · for White 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.d3 Nf6 5.Nc3 h6 6.O-O d6 7.Na4 Bb6 8.a3 Bg4 9.c3 Qc8 10.Nxb6 axb6 …
36 games · avg. Elo 2604 · W/D/L 8/23/5 · Model game: Ivic – Jacobson, 2025 (1/2-1/2)
Classical Variation, Greco Gambit, Modern Line · ECO C54 · for White 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.c3 Nf6 5.d4 exd4 6.e5 d5 7.Bb5 Ne4 8.cxd4 Bb6 9.Nc3 O-O 10.Be3 Bg4 …
34 games · avg. Elo 2604 · W/D/L 7/24/3
Classical Variation, Giuoco Pianissimo, with a6 · ECO C54 · for White 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.c3 Nf6 5.d3 a6 6.O-O d6 7.Bg5 h6 8.Bh4 Ba7 9.Nbd2 g5 10.Bg3 O-O …
25 games · avg. Elo 2633 · W/D/L 8/12/5 · Model game: Sindarov – Blohberger, 2026 (1-0)
Paris Defense · ECO C50 · for White 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 d6 4.d4 Nf6 5.d5 Ne7 6.Bd3 g6 7.c4 Bg7 8.Nc3 O-O 9.h3 a5 10.Be3 Nd7 …
25 games · avg. Elo 2608 · W/D/L 8/11/6 · Model game: Sindarov – Bologan, 2024 (1-0)
Classical Variation, Giuoco Pianissimo, Albin Variation · ECO C54 · for White 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.c3 Nf6 5.d3 d6 6.b4 Bb6 7.a4 a5 8.b5 Ne7 9.Nbd2 O-O 10.O-O Ng6 …
18 games · avg. Elo 2612 · W/D/L 10/7/1 · Model game: Abdusattorov – Navara, 2024 (1-0)
Learn every line move by move on an interactive board with Stockfish 19 evaluation, model games and spaced repetition. Also: every chess tournament worldwide and 4,100+ puzzles.
Try 7 days free → Other openings Statistics from classical games of 2500+ rated players. Notation: K king, Q queen, R rook, B bishop, N knight.
