Italian Game: Classical Variation, Giuoco Pianissimo (7. a4 O-O)
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. O-O Nf6 5. d3 d6 6. c3 a6 7. a4 O-O
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 O-O. It is a line of the Italian Game. White is to move.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 5 times by this move order. White won 80%, 0% were drawn and Black won 20%. The most popular continuation is 8. Nbd2 (40% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.17 (Stockfish, depth 49; best line 8. h3 Ba7 9. Nbd2 Be6 10. Bxe6 fxe6)
- ECO
- C54
- Moves
- 14 plies
- FEN
r1bq1rk1/1pp2ppp/p1np1n2/2b1p3/P1B1P3/2PP1N2/1P3PPP/RNBQ1RK1 w - - 1 8- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. O-O Nf6 5. d3 d6 6. c3 a6 7. a4 O-O
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 1 | |
| 1500-1999 | 2 | |
| 2000+ | 2 | |
| All | 5 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 8. Nbd2 | 2 (40%) | |
| 8. Re1 | 1 (20%) | |
| 8. Bg5 | 1 (20%) | |
| 8. h3 | 1 (20%) |
Master games
76 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 33%, draw 38%, Black 29%). The strongest:
- GM Magnus Carlsen (2834) – GM Vladimir Kramnik (2787) 1/2-1/2 · 80th Tata Steel GpA · 2018-01-17
- GM Magnus Carlsen (2832) – GM Hikaru Nakamura (2785) 1/2-1/2 · GCT Blitz Paris 2017 · 2017-06-24
- GM Fabiano Caruana (2804) – GM Hikaru Nakamura (2787) 0-1 · GCT Blitz Paris 2016 · 2016-06-11
- GM Liren Ding (2813) – GM Viswanathan Anand (2773) 1/2-1/2 · 81st Tata Steel GpA · 2019-01-26
- GM Anish Giri (2793) – GM Hikaru Nakamura (2790) 1/2-1/2 · FIDE Candidates 2016 · 2016-03-24
Search all games of the Italian Game: Classical Variation, Giuoco Pianissimo and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- HorizonChaser (2147) – KillerIvan (2170) 1-0 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 2s
- JC_JADEJA (1903) – Blitzer-12 (2247) 0-1 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 0s
- HEHE03 (1082) – a6ixh99 (2106) 1-0 · 2026-09-01 · 600 + 0s
Comes from
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
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.