Italian Game: Classical Variation, Giuoco Pianissimo (5… h6 6. c3)
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. O-O Nf6 5. d3 h6 6. c3
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 h6 6. c3. It is a line of the Italian Game. Black is to move.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 774 times by this move order. White won 47%, 4% were drawn and Black won 49%. The most popular continuation is 6… d6 (45% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.17 (Stockfish, depth 40; best line 6… d6 7. b4 Bb6 8. Nbd2 Ne7 9. Re1)
- ECO
- C54
- Moves
- 11 plies
- FEN
r1bqk2r/pppp1pp1/2n2n1p/2b1p3/2B1P3/2PP1N2/PP3PPP/RNBQ1RK1 b kq - 0 6- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. O-O Nf6 5. d3 h6 6. c3
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 163 | |
| 1500-1999 | 511 | |
| 2000+ | 100 | |
| All | 774 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 6… d6 | 349 (45%) | |
| 6… O-O | 262 (34%) | |
| 6… a6 | 65 (8%) | |
| 6… Bb6 | 36 (5%) | |
| 6… d5 | 31 (4%) | |
| 6… a5 | 14 (2%) | |
| 6… Na5 | 6 (1%) | |
| 6… Be7 | 4 (1%) |
Master games
276 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 53%, draw 19%, Black 28%). The strongest:
- GM Levon Aronian (2785) – GM So, W. (2778) 1-0 · Chess.com Rapid Wk5 KO · 2022-03-13
- GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (2775) – GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (2765) 1/2-1/2 · GCT Blitz Paris 2019 · 2019-08-01
- GM Alireza Firouzja (2770) – GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (2765) 1-0 · 23rd European Teams · 2021-11-21
- GM Viswanathan Anand (2764) – GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (2765) 1/2-1/2 · GCT Blitz Paris 2019 · 2019-08-01
- GM Anish Giri (2774) – GM Hikaru Nakamura (2736) 1/2-1/2 · chess.com Speed 2021 · 2021-12-06
Search all games of the Italian Game: Classical Variation, Giuoco Pianissimo and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- abmcdonald (2524) – sophiaknowthatuandi (2530) 0-1 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
- Piksi69 (2547) – sch27chess04 (2489) 0-1 · 2026-09-06 · 180 + 0s
- Piksi69 (2562) – electricgold (2380) 1-0 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 0s
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.