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
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. It is a line of the Italian Game. White is to move. 2 named lines continue from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 72 times by this move order. White won 43%, 10% were drawn and Black won 47%. The most popular continuation is 7. a4 (26% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.19 (Stockfish, depth 48; best line 7. Re1 h6 8. Nbd2 O-O 9. Nf1 Be6)
- ECO
- C54
- Moves
- 12 plies
- FEN
r1bqk2r/1pp2ppp/p1np1n2/2b1p3/2B1P3/2PP1N2/PP3PPP/RNBQ1RK1 w kq - 0 7- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. O-O Nf6 5. d3 d6 6. c3 a6
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 6 | |
| 1500-1999 | 33 | |
| 2000+ | 33 | |
| All | 72 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 7. a4 Classical Variation, Giuoco Pianissimo (6… a6 7. a4) | 19 (26%) | |
| 7. Bb3 | 17 (24%) | |
| 7. b4 | 13 (18%) | |
| 7. Nbd2 | 9 (13%) | |
| 7. Bg5 | 7 (10%) | |
| 7. Be3 | 2 (3%) | |
| 7. Bxf7+ | 2 (3%) | |
| 7. a3 | 1 (1%) |
Master games
469 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 39%, draw 28%, Black 33%). The strongest:
- GM Pentala Harikrishna (2763) – GM Hikaru Nakamura (2787) 1/2-1/2 · chess.com QF Blitz 5m+2spm 2016 · 2016-05-04
- GM Pentala Harikrishna (2763) – GM Hikaru Nakamura (2787) 1/2-1/2 · chess.com QF Blitz 5m+2spm 2016 · 2016-05-04
- GM Levon Aronian (2764) – GM Sergey Karjakin (2782) 1/2-1/2 · GCT Blitz YourNextMove · 2018-06-16
- GM Magnus Carlsen (2832) – GM Etienne Bacrot (2708) 1-0 · GCT Blitz Paris 2017 · 2017-06-25
- GM Magnus Carlsen (2840) – GM Denis Lazavik (2605) 0-1 · SpeedChess Final 2025 · 2026-02-07
Search all games of the Italian Game: Classical Variation, Giuoco Pianissimo and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- m_d1386 (2540) – Yaponets (2573) 0-1 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 0s
- Blunderator_19 (2461) – Konsolidasyon (2647) 1/2-1/2 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 2s
- RKNC (2598) – gedchess (2502) 1-0 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Italian Game: Classical Variation, Giuoco Pianissimo (5… d6 6. c3) 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. O-O Nf6 5. d3 d6 6. c3
Continuations
- Italian Game: Classical Variation, Giuoco Pianissimo (6… a6 7. a4) C54 · 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. O-O Nf6 5. d3 d6 6. c3 a6 7. a4
- Italian Game: Classical Variation, Giuoco Pianissimo (6… a6 7. Re1) C54 · 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.