Italian Game: Classical Variation, Giuoco Pianissimo (6… a6 7. Re1)
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. O-O Nf6 5. d3 d6 6. c3 a6 7. Re1
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. Re1. It is a line of the Italian Game. Black is to move. 1 named line continues from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 1 times by this move order. White won 0%, 0% were drawn and Black won 100%. The most popular continuation is 7… Ba7 (100% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.12 (Stockfish, depth 50; best line 7… O-O 8. h3 Ba7 9. a4 h6 10. Nbd2)
- ECO
- C54
- Moves
- 13 plies
- FEN
r1bqk2r/1pp2ppp/p1np1n2/2b1p3/2B1P3/2PP1N2/PP3PPP/RNBQR1K1 b kq - 1 7- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. O-O Nf6 5. d3 d6 6. c3 a6 7. Re1
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 1500-1999 | 1 | |
| All | 1 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 7… Ba7 Classical Variation, Giuoco Pianissimo (7. Re1 Ba7) | 1 (100%) |
Master games
26 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 50%, draw 35%, Black 15%). The strongest:
- GM Liren Ding (2791) – GM Magnus Carlsen (2863) 0-1 · Carlsen Tour Final 2020 · 2020-08-10
- GM Anish Giri (2785) – GM Hikaru Nakamura (2786) 1/2-1/2 · Moscow Grand Prix 2017 · 2017-05-16
- GM So, W. (2745) – GM Gukesh D (2776) 0-1 · Saint Louis Rapid 2025 · 2025-08-13
- GM So, W. (2770) – GM Yi Wei (2732) 1-0 · Lindores Abbey Prelim · 2020-05-19
- GM Alexander Grischuk (2764) – GM Radoslaw Wojtaszek (2728) 1/2-1/2 · Hamburg FIDE Grand Prix · 2019-11-06
Search all games of the Italian Game: Classical Variation, Giuoco Pianissimo and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- Eziandio (1950) – tropicanooo (2003) 0-1 · 2026-09-04 · 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. Re1 Ba7) C54 · 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. O-O Nf6 5. d3 d6 6. c3 a6 7. Re1 Ba7
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.