Italian Game: Classical Variation, Giuoco Pianissimo (4… Nf6 5. d3)
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Nf6 5. d3
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. c3 Nf6 5. d3. It is a line of the Italian Game. Black is to move. 3 named lines continue from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 8,425 times by this move order. White won 50%, 4% were drawn and Black won 46%. The most popular continuation is 5… d6 (33% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.15 (Stockfish, depth 54; best line 5… a6 6. a4 d6 7. O-O h6 8. Re1)
- ECO
- C54
- Moves
- 9 plies
- FEN
r1bqk2r/pppp1ppp/2n2n2/2b1p3/2B1P3/2PP1N2/PP3PPP/RNBQK2R b KQkq - 0 5- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Nf6 5. d3
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 2,747 | |
| 1500-1999 | 4,418 | |
| 2000+ | 1,260 | |
| All | 8,425 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 5… d6 Classical Variation, Giuoco Pianissimo (5. d3 d6) | 2,751 (33%) | |
| 5… O-O | 2,296 (27%) | |
| 5… h6 | 2,204 (26%) | |
| 5… d5 Classical Variation, with d5 | 484 (6%) | |
| 5… Ng4 | 267 (3%) | |
| 5… a6 Classical Variation, Giuoco Pianissimo, with a6 (5. d3 a6) | 232 (3%) | |
| 5… a5 | 54 (1%) | |
| 5… Na5 | 47 (1%) |
Master games
3,736 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 42%, draw 27%, Black 31%). The strongest:
- GM Fabiano Caruana (2823) – GM Vladimir Kramnik (2809) 1/2-1/2 · 8th London Classic 2016 · 2016-12-11
- GM Magnus Carlsen (2847) – GM Levon Aronian (2782) 1/2-1/2 · Aimchess US Rapid KO 2021 · 2021-09-02
- GM Magnus Carlsen (2862) – GM Anish Giri (2764) 1/2-1/2 · 83rd Tata Steel Masters · 2021-01-29
- GM Magnus Carlsen (2840) – GM Sergey Karjakin (2785) 1/2-1/2 · 79th Tata Steel GpA · 2017-01-29
- GM So, W. (2770) – GM Magnus Carlsen (2847) 1/2-1/2 · Goldmoney Asian Rapid KO · 2021-06-29
Search all games of the Italian Game: Classical Variation, Giuoco Pianissimo and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- LuckyStar2011 (2840) – GM xiaochess (2943) 0-1 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 0s
- GM Kiborg95 (2779) – Sunrise34 (2855) 0-1 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
- kuhmft (2886) – NameTheGame (2698) 0-1 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Italian Game: Classical Variation (4. c3 Nf6) 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Nf6
Continuations
- Italian Game: Classical Variation, Giuoco Pianissimo (5. d3 d6) C54 · 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Nf6 5. d3 d6
- Italian Game: Classical Variation, Giuoco Pianissimo, with a6 (5. d3 a6) C54 · 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Nf6 5. d3 a6
- Italian Game: Classical Variation, with d5 C54 · 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Nf6 5. d3 d5
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.