Italian Game: Classical Variation, Giuoco Pianissimo (6. c3 Bb6)
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. O-O Nf6 5. d3 d6 6. c3 Bb6
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 Bb6. 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 15 times by this move order. White won 53%, 7% were drawn and Black won 40%. The most popular continuation is 7. Nbd2 (27% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.20 (Stockfish, depth 44; best line 7. Bb3 h6 8. Na3 a5 9. Nc4 Ba7)
- ECO
- C54
- Moves
- 12 plies
- FEN
r1bqk2r/ppp2ppp/1bnp1n2/4p3/2B1P3/2PP1N2/PP3PPP/RNBQ1RK1 w kq - 1 7- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. O-O Nf6 5. d3 d6 6. c3 Bb6
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 1500-1999 | 5 | |
| 2000+ | 10 | |
| All | 15 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 7. Nbd2 | 4 (27%) | |
| 7. h3 | 4 (27%) | |
| 7. b4 | 2 (13%) | |
| 7. Bg5 | 2 (13%) | |
| 7. Re1 | 2 (13%) | |
| 7. Be3 | 1 (7%) |
Master games
145 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 40%, draw 33%, Black 27%). The strongest:
- GM Fabiano Caruana (2796) – GM Awonder Liang (2677) 1/2-1/2 · ch-USA 2024 · 2024-10-21
- GM Victor Bologan (2672) – GM Alexander Grischuk (2779) 1/2-1/2 · FIDE World Blitz 2013 · 2013-06-09
- GM Pentala Harikrishna (2740) – GM Julio E Granda Zuniga (2663) 1-0 · TCh-ESP Div Honor 2015 · 2015-08-18
- GM Laurent Fressinet (2712) – GM Jon Ludvig Hammer (2665) 0-1 · Scandinavian Masters Rapid · 2015-05-15
- GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov (2716) – GM Narayanan S L (2651) 1/2-1/2 · Qatar Masters Open 2023 · 2023-10-17
Search all games of the Italian Game: Classical Variation, Giuoco Pianissimo and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- nikolarasss (2422) – Esoj41 (2431) 0-1 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 2s
- z2win (2340) – Unimaginable (2363) 1-0 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 0s
- djdikkat34 (2274) – SpaghettiFortress (2392) 0-1 · 2026-09-05 · 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
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.