Italian Game: Classical Variation, Giuoco Pianissimo, with a4 a5
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Nf6 5. d3 d6 6. O-O O-O 7. a4 a5
The Italian Game: Classical Variation, Giuoco Pianissimo, with a4 a5 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 6. O-O O-O 7. a4 a5. 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 6 times by this move order. White won 17%, 0% were drawn and Black won 83%. The most popular continuation is 8. Re1 (33% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.12 (Stockfish, depth 50; best line 8. Re1 Ng4 9. Re2 Be6 10. Bb3 h6)
- ECO
- C54
- Moves
- 14 plies
- FEN
r1bq1rk1/1pp2ppp/2np1n2/p1b1p3/P1B1P3/2PP1N2/1P3PPP/RNBQ1RK1 w - - 0 8- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Nf6 5. d3 d6 6. O-O O-O 7. a4 a5
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 1 | |
| 1500-1999 | 4 | |
| 2000+ | 1 | |
| All | 6 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 8. Re1 | 2 (33%) | |
| 8. Nbd2 | 2 (33%) | |
| 8. Bg5 | 2 (33%) |
Master games
46 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 39%, draw 24%, Black 37%). The strongest:
- GM Hao Wang (2735) – GM Ivan Cheparinov (2667) 1-0 · IMSA World Masters Blitz · 2019-05-18
- GM Haowen Xue (2535) – GM David Navara (2650) 1-0 · Titled Tue 2nd Sep 2025 · 2025-09-02
- GM Amirreza Pourramezanali (2529) – GM Marin Bosiocic (2618) 0-1 · 3rd Stars Cup 2019 · 2019-02-13
- IM David J Eggleston (2406) – GM Santosh Gujrathi Vidit (2711) 0-1 · chess.com IoM Masters · 2018-10-20
- GM Aram Hakobyan (2554) – GM Abhimanyu Puranik (2524) 0-1 · 57th World Juniors 2018 · 2018-09-15
Highest-rated Lichess games
- Wadxox (2172) – Aibolot1997 (2235) 0-1 · 2026-09-06 · 180 + 2s
- JoseMariaPalomo (1955) – Materiaobscura (1907) 0-1 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 2s
- YTREWQQWERRT (1929) – isern (1867) 0-1 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 2s
Comes from
Italian Game: Classical Variation, Giuoco Pianissimo (5. d3 d6) 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Nf6 5. d3 d6
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.