Italian Game: Classical Variation, Giuoco Pianissimo (6… a6 7. a4)
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. O-O Nf6 5. d3 d6 6. c3 a6 7. a4
The Italian Game: Classical Variation, Giuoco Pianissimo is a chess opening classified as ECO C54, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. O-O Nf6 5. d3 d6 6. c3 a6 7. a4. It is a line of the Italian Game. Black is to move. 2 named lines continue from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 19 times by this move order. White won 53%, 5% were drawn and Black won 42%. The most popular continuation is 7… Ba7 (42% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.13 (Stockfish, depth 55; best line 7… O-O 8. h3 a5 9. Bb5 h6 10. Re1)
- ECO
- C54
- Moves
- 13 plies
- FEN
r1bqk2r/1pp2ppp/p1np1n2/2b1p3/P1B1P3/2PP1N2/1P3PPP/RNBQ1RK1 b kq - 0 7- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. O-O Nf6 5. d3 d6 6. c3 a6 7. a4
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 1 | |
| 1500-1999 | 7 | |
| 2000+ | 11 | |
| All | 19 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 7… Ba7 Classical Variation, Giuoco Pianissimo (7. a4 Ba7) | 8 (42%) | |
| 7… O-O Classical Variation, Giuoco Pianissimo (7. a4 O-O) | 5 (26%) | |
| 7… h6 | 3 (16%) | |
| 7… Ne7 | 1 (5%) | |
| 7… Bd7 | 1 (5%) | |
| 7… Be6 | 1 (5%) |
Master games
125 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 34%, draw 39%, Black 27%). The strongest:
- GM Magnus Carlsen (2863) – GM Vladimir Kramnik (2753) 1/2-1/2 · Legends of Chess Prelim · 2020-07-29
- GM Anish Giri (2782) – GM Vladimir Kramnik (2812) 1/2-1/2 · GCT Blitz YourNextMove · 2016-06-19
- GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (2804) – GM Alexander Grischuk (2788) 1/2-1/2 · FIDE World Cup 2017 · 2017-09-14
- GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (2804) – GM Alexander Grischuk (2788) 1-0 · FIDE World Cup 2017 · 2017-09-14
- GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (2804) – GM Alexander Grischuk (2788) 1/2-1/2 · FIDE World Cup 2017 · 2017-09-12
Search all games of the Italian Game: Classical Variation, Giuoco Pianissimo and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- RKNC (2598) – gedchess (2502) 1-0 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
- CM PurposeLess2014 (2500) – ACM245 (2495) 1-0 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 2s
- Zimarov (2298) – IM walaasarwat (2381) 1-0 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 2s
Comes from
Italian Game: Classical Variation, Giuoco Pianissimo (6. c3 a6) 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. O-O Nf6 5. d3 d6 6. c3 a6
Continuations
- Italian Game: Classical Variation, Giuoco Pianissimo (7. a4 Ba7) C54 · 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. O-O Nf6 5. d3 d6 6. c3 a6 7. a4 Ba7
- Italian Game: Classical Variation, Giuoco Pianissimo (7. a4 O-O) C54 · 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. O-O Nf6 5. d3 d6 6. c3 a6 7. a4 O-O
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.