Italian Game: Classical Variation, Albin Gambit
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. O-O Nf6 5. c3
The Italian Game: Classical Variation, Albin Gambit is a chess opening classified as ECO C50, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. O-O Nf6 5. c3. 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 2,770 times by this move order. White won 52%, 3% were drawn and Black won 45%. The most popular continuation is 5… O-O (34% of games).
Engine evaluation: −0.21 (Stockfish, depth 48; best line 5… Nxe4 6. d3 Nxf2 7. Rxf2 Bxf2+ 8. Kxf2)
- ECO
- C50
- Moves
- 9 plies
- FEN
r1bqk2r/pppp1ppp/2n2n2/2b1p3/2B1P3/2P2N2/PP1P1PPP/RNBQ1RK1 b kq - 0 5- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. O-O Nf6 5. c3
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 839 | |
| 1500-1999 | 1,610 | |
| 2000+ | 321 | |
| All | 2,770 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 5… O-O | 947 (34%) | |
| 5… d6 | 791 (29%) | |
| 5… Nxe4 | 612 (22%) | |
| 5… h6 | 123 (4%) | |
| 5… d5 | 106 (4%) | |
| 5… Bb6 | 57 (2%) | |
| 5… a6 | 50 (2%) | |
| 5… Ng4 | 36 (1%) |
Master games
149 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 42%, draw 8%, Black 50%). The strongest:
- GM Alan Pichot (2630) – GM Andrew Tang (2538) 1-0 · Titled Tuesday 29th Dec · 2020-12-29
- FM Vatsal Singhania (2371) – GM S.P. Sethuraman (2644) 0-1 · AICF World Cup Qualifier · 2021-05-27
- GM Eugenio Torre (2449) – GM John Paul Gomez (2524) 0-1 · Zonal 3.3 2015 · 2015-03-11
- IM Nitish Belurkar (2441) – GM Andrew Tang (2529) 0-1 · Titled Tue 11th Mar Early · 2025-03-11
- CM Georgijs Germanovs (2260) – GM Rasmus Svane (2608) 0-1 · Titled Tue 30th Dec 2025 · 2025-12-30
Search all games of the Italian Game: Classical Variation, Albin Gambit and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- Barry_Lindon (2579) – Kruciatos (2638) 0-1 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
- Iluzionisti (2577) – Yaponets (2574) 1-0 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 0s
- uuygun007 (2513) – DTimofey (2569) 0-1 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 2s
Comes from
Italian Game: Giuoco Piano 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5
More Italian Game lines (all)
- Italian Game C50
- Italian Game: Anti-Fried Liver Defense C50
- Italian Game: Blackburne-Kostić 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
- Italian Game: Giuoco Pianissimo, Lucchini Gambit 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.