Italian Game: Bird's Attack
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Nf6 5. b4
The Italian Game: Bird's Attack is a chess opening classified as ECO C53, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Nf6 5. b4. It is a line of the Italian Game. Black is to move.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 856 times by this move order. White won 49%, 3% were drawn and Black won 48%. The most popular continuation is 5… Bb6 (77% of games).
Engine evaluation: 0.00 (Stockfish, depth 46; best line 5… Bb6 6. d3 d6 7. O-O Ne7 8. Nbd2)
- ECO
- C53
- Moves
- 9 plies
- FEN
r1bqk2r/pppp1ppp/2n2n2/2b1p3/1PB1P3/2P2N2/P2P1PPP/RNBQK2R b KQkq - 0 5- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Nf6 5. b4
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 414 | |
| 1500-1999 | 399 | |
| 2000+ | 43 | |
| All | 856 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 5… Bb6 | 660 (77%) | |
| 5… Be7 | 83 (10%) | |
| 5… Bd6 | 46 (5%) | |
| 5… Bxf2+ | 41 (5%) | |
| 5… Nxb4 | 9 (1%) | |
| 5… O-O | 5 (1%) | |
| 5… Nxe4 | 3 (0%) | |
| 5… d5 | 3 (0%) |
Master games
235 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 42%, draw 18%, Black 40%). The strongest:
- GM Fabiano Caruana (2823) – GM Hikaru Nakamura (2779) 0-1 · Champions Showdown Rapid · 2016-11-13
- GM Baadur Jobava (2665) – GM Fabiano Caruana (2808) 1/2-1/2 · 42nd Olympiad 2016 · 2016-09-12
- GM Vladimir Fedoseev (2687) – GM Vladislav Artemiev (2709) 0-1 · European Online CC Final · 2021-03-31
- GM Baadur Jobava (2669) – GM Rustam Kasimdzhanov (2703) 1/2-1/2 · Eurasian Blitz Chess Cup · 2016-06-19
- GM Alireza Firouzja (2766) – GM Tuan Minh Le (2598) 0-1 · Titled Tue 10th Jun Late · 2025-06-10
Search all games of the Italian Game: Bird's Attack and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- Superstitions_Guy (2775) – kuhmft (2855) 1-0 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
- Superstitions_Guy (2774) – kuhmft (2850) 0-1 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
- tapkus (2642) – S_Ovsejevitsch (2629) 1-0 · 2026-09-06 · 180 + 2s
Comes from
Italian Game: Classical Variation (4. c3 Nf6) 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Nf6
More Italian Game lines (all)
- Italian Game C50
- Italian Game: Anti-Fried Liver Defense C50
- Italian Game: Blackburne-Kostić Gambit C50
- Italian Game: Classical Variation, Albin Gambit C50
- Italian Game: Deutz Gambit C50
- Italian Game: Giuoco Pianissimo (3… Bc5 4. d3) C50
- Italian Game: Giuoco Pianissimo (5… d6 6. d3) C50
- Italian Game: Giuoco Pianissimo (5. O-O O-O) C50
- Italian Game: Giuoco Pianissimo (5… O-O 6. d3) C50
- Italian Game: Giuoco Pianissimo, Canal Variation C50
- Italian Game: Giuoco Pianissimo, Dubois Variation C50
- Italian Game: Giuoco Pianissimo, Italian Four Knights Variation C50
Opening names and moves from the Lichess openings dataset; statistics from the Lichess open database, 2026-09 (CC0), sample of 12.6 million games, bots excluded; evaluations from Lichess cloud analysis (all CC0). Master games from The Week in Chess #920–#1664 by Mark Crowther, used with permission.