Italian Game: Classical Variation, Giuoco Pianissimo (7. Re1 Ba7)
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. O-O Nf6 5. d3 d6 6. c3 a6 7. Re1 Ba7
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 Ba7. 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 1 times by this move order. White won 0%, 0% were drawn and Black won 100%. The most popular continuation is 8. h3 (100% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.22 (Stockfish, depth 40; best line 8. Nbd2 O-O 9. Nf1 Be6 10. Bxe6 fxe6)
- ECO
- C54
- Moves
- 14 plies
- FEN
r1bqk2r/bpp2ppp/p1np1n2/4p3/2B1P3/2PP1N2/PP3PPP/RNBQR1K1 w kq - 2 8- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. O-O Nf6 5. d3 d6 6. c3 a6 7. Re1 Ba7
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 |
|---|---|---|
| 8. h3 | 1 (100%) |
Master games
54 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 50%, draw 24%, Black 26%). The strongest:
- GM So, W. (2773) – GM Fabiano Caruana (2787) 1/2-1/2 · 78th Tata Steel GpA · 2016-01-22
- GM Vladimir Kramnik (2808) – GM Teimour Radjabov (2722) 1-0 · 42nd Olympiad 2016 · 2016-09-11
- GM Liren Ding (2811) – GM Praggnanandhaa R (2684) 0-1 · 85th Tata Steel Masters · 2023-01-17
- GM Santosh Gujrathi Vidit (2726) – GM Sergey Karjakin (2752) 0-1 · Speed Chess Invitational · 2020-10-25
- GM So, W. (2773) – GM Jorden Van Foreest (2678) 1-0 · SuperUnited Rapid 2022 · 2022-07-20
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… a6 7. Re1) 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. O-O Nf6 5. d3 d6 6. c3 a6 7. Re1
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.