Italian Game: Classical Variation, Giuoco Pianissimo, with a5
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. O-O Nf6 5. d3 a5 6. c3
The Italian Game: Classical Variation, Giuoco Pianissimo, with a5 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 a5 6. c3. It is a line of the Italian Game. Black is to move.
This exact move order didn't appear in our sample of 12.6 million Lichess games: it's a rare line.
Engine evaluation: +0.11 (Stockfish, depth 59; best line 6… d6 7. Re1 O-O 8. h3 h6 9. Bb5)
- ECO
- C54
- Moves
- 11 plies
- FEN
r1bqk2r/1ppp1ppp/2n2n2/p1b1p3/2B1P3/2PP1N2/PP3PPP/RNBQ1RK1 b kq - 0 6- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. O-O Nf6 5. d3 a5 6. c3
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Master games
12 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 33%, draw 17%, Black 50%). The strongest:
- GM Andrei Volokitin (2677) – GM Manuel Petrosyan (2620) 0-1 · World Blitz 2021 · 2021-12-29
- GM Jaime Santos Latasa (2639) – GM Manuel Petrosyan (2620) 1-0 · World Blitz 2021 · 2021-12-30
- GM Volodar Murzin (2678) – GM Denis Makhnev (2540) 1-0 · Shymbulak Chess Summer · 2025-08-03
- GM Vasif Durarbayli (2612) – GM Denis Makhnev (2481) 0-1 · Titled Tue 11th Oct Early · 2022-10-11
- GM Krzysztof Jakubowski (2471) – GM Victor Mikhalevski (2562) 0-1 · World Blitz 2021 · 2021-12-29
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.