Italian Game: Classical Variation, Giuoco Pianissimo (6. c3 d5)
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. O-O Nf6 5. d3 O-O 6. c3 d5
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 O-O 6. c3 d5. 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 108 times by this move order. White won 56%, 4% were drawn and Black won 40%. The most popular continuation is 7. exd5 (94% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.30 (Stockfish, depth 50; best line 7. exd5 Nxd5 8. Re1 Bg4 9. a4 Nb6)
- ECO
- C54
- Moves
- 12 plies
- FEN
r1bq1rk1/ppp2ppp/2n2n2/2bpp3/2B1P3/2PP1N2/PP3PPP/RNBQ1RK1 w - - 0 7- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. O-O Nf6 5. d3 O-O 6. c3 d5
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 40 | |
| 1500-1999 | 55 | |
| 2000+ | 13 | |
| All | 108 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 7. exd5 | 101 (94%) | |
| 7. Bb5 | 4 (4%) | |
| 7. Bb3 | 1 (1%) | |
| 7. a4 | 1 (1%) | |
| 7. b4 | 1 (1%) |
Master games
160 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 36%, draw 30%, Black 34%). The strongest:
- GM Magnus Carlsen (2855) – GM Levon Aronian (2792) 1/2-1/2 · GCT Blitz YourNextMove · 2016-06-19
- GM Magnus Carlsen (2862) – GM So, W. (2770) 1/2-1/2 · Opera Euro Rapid KO 2021 · 2021-02-14
- GM Anish Giri (2782) – GM Levon Aronian (2792) 1/2-1/2 · GCT Blitz YourNextMove · 2016-06-19
- GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (2789) – GM Viswanathan Anand (2782) 0-1 · World Blitz 2017 · 2017-12-30
- GM Sergey Karjakin (2773) – GM Anish Giri (2785) 1/2-1/2 · 9th Masters Final 2016 · 2016-07-14
Search all games of the Italian Game: Classical Variation, Giuoco Pianissimo and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- Sami1963 (2318) – ThesecondPhantomias (2305) 1-0 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 2s
- koren2021 (2267) – win-draw-loss (2330) 1/2-1/2 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
- adi41champ (2167) – ChessStudent1991 (2226) 0-1 · 2026-09-04 · 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: 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.