Italian Game: Classical Variation, Giuoco Pianissimo, with a6 (6. Nbd2 a6)
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Nf6 5. d3 d6 6. Nbd2 a6
The Italian Game: Classical Variation, Giuoco Pianissimo, with a6 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. Nbd2 a6. 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 38 times by this move order. White won 42%, 11% were drawn and Black won 47%. The most popular continuation is 7. Bb3 (61% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.25 (Stockfish, depth 38; best line 7. Nf1 Ba7 8. Bb3 Be6 9. Bxe6 fxe6)
- ECO
- C54
- Moves
- 12 plies
- FEN
r1bqk2r/1pp2ppp/p1np1n2/2b1p3/2B1P3/2PP1N2/PP1N1PPP/R1BQK2R w KQkq - 0 7- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Nf6 5. d3 d6 6. Nbd2 a6
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 2 | |
| 1500-1999 | 9 | |
| 2000+ | 27 | |
| All | 38 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 7. Bb3 | 23 (61%) | |
| 7. Nf1 | 3 (8%) | |
| 7. O-O | 3 (8%) | |
| 7. b4 | 3 (8%) | |
| 7. a4 | 2 (5%) | |
| 7. a3 | 2 (5%) | |
| 7. h3 | 2 (5%) |
Master games
407 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 37%, draw 29%, Black 34%). The strongest:
- GM Jan-Krzysztof Duda (2758) – GM Magnus Carlsen (2872) 1/2-1/2 · 82nd Tata Steel GpA · 2020-01-24
- GM Fabiano Caruana (2811) – GM Vladimir Kramnik (2783) 1/2-1/2 · 4th Zurich CC Classical · 2015-02-18
- GM Jan-Krzysztof Duda (2739) – GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (2820) 1/2-1/2 · 43rd Olympiad 2018 · 2018-10-01
- GM Viswanathan Anand (2779) – GM Hikaru Nakamura (2779) 1/2-1/2 · Champions Showdown 60m · 2016-11-10
- GM Fabiano Caruana (2782) – GM Viswanathan Anand (2754) 1-0 · SuperUnited Blitz 2023 · 2023-07-09
Highest-rated Lichess games
- Artur_Arustamyan (2593) – RobertoValas (2603) 0-1 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 2s
- Artur_Arustamyan (2596) – ACM245 (2447) 1-0 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 2s
- Mik1911 (2455) – behrooz10000 (2549) 1/2-1/2 · 2026-09-05 · 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.