Italian Game: Classical Variation, Giuoco Pianissimo (5. d3 d6)

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Nf6 5. d3 d6

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. c3 Nf6 5. d3 d6. It is a line of the Italian Game. White is to move. 5 named lines continue from this position.

In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 2,751 times by this move order. White won 49%, 4% were drawn and Black won 47%. The most popular continuation is 6. O-O (30% of games).

Engine evaluation: +0.18 (Stockfish, depth 50; best line 6. O-O O-O 7. Re1 a5 8. Bg5 h6)

ECO: C54
Moves: 10 plies
FEN: r1bqk2r/ppp2ppp/2np1n2/2b1p3/2B1P3/2PP1N2/PP3PPP/RNBQK2R w KQkq - 0 6
PGN: 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Nf6 5. d3 d6

Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess

Results by rating

Average rating	Games	White / draw / Black
0-1499	681	50%47%
1500-1999	1,446	50%45%
2000+	624	44%50%
All	2,751	49%47%

Most played moves

Move	Games	White / draw / Black
6. O-O	820 (30%)	47%48%
6. h3	564 (21%)	49%44%
6. Bg5	276 (10%)	49%47%
6. Nbd2	238 (9%)	47%46%
6. a4	237 (9%)	48%49%
6. Bb3	227 (8%)	54%42%
6. b4 Classical Variation, Giuoco Pianissimo, Albin Variation	225 (8%)	49%49%
6. Be3	52 (2%)	50%46%

Master games

5,483 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 40%, draw 27%, Black 33%). The strongest:

GM Fabiano Caruana (2835) – GM Magnus Carlsen (2863) 0-1 · Chessable Masters Final 8 · 2020-06-25
GM Vladimir Kramnik (2808) – GM Magnus Carlsen (2832) 1-0 · 5th Norway Chess 2017 · 2017-06-14
GM Ian Nepomniachtchi (2773) – GM Magnus Carlsen (2865) 1/2-1/2 · Airthings Masters KO 2022 · 2022-02-25
GM Magnus Carlsen (2864) – GM So, W. (2773) 0-1 · SuperUnited Blitz 2022 · 2022-07-23
GM So, W. (2770) – GM Magnus Carlsen (2863) 1-0 · Chess24 Banter Final 2020 · 2020-09-29

Search all games of the Italian Game: Classical Variation, Giuoco Pianissimo and its sub-variations

Highest-rated Lichess games

GM Kiborg95 (2779) – Sunrise34 (2855) 0-1 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
kuhmft (2886) – NameTheGame (2698) 0-1 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
evg85 (2809) – Kruciatos (2765) 1-0 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s

Comes from

Italian Game: Classical Variation, Giuoco Pianissimo (4… Nf6 5. d3) 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Nf6 5. d3

Continuations

Italian Game: Classical Variation, Giuoco Pianissimo, Albin Variation C54 · 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Nf6 5. d3 d6 6. b4
Italian Game: Classical Variation, Giuoco Pianissimo, with a6 (6. Nbd2 a6) C54 · 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Nf6 5. d3 d6 6. Nbd2 a6
Italian Game: Classical Variation, Giuoco Pianissimo (6… O-O 7. O-O) C54 · 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Nf6 5. d3 d6 6. Nbd2 O-O 7. O-O
Italian Game: Classical Variation, Giuoco Pianissimo, with a4 a5 C54 · 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Nf6 5. d3 d6 6. O-O O-O 7. a4 a5
Italian Game: Classical Variation, Giuoco Pianissimo, Main Line C54 · 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Nf6 5. d3 d6 6. O-O O-O 7. Re1 a6 8. Bb3 Ba7 9. h3

More Italian Game lines (all)

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.