Italian Game: Classical Variation, Greco Gambit, Modern Line (5… exd4 6. e5)
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Nf6 5. d4 exd4 6. e5
The Italian Game: Classical Variation, Greco Gambit, Modern Line is a chess opening classified as ECO C54, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Nf6 5. d4 exd4 6. e5. It is a line of the Italian Game. Black is to move. 2 named lines continue from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 3,013 times by this move order. White won 55%, 4% were drawn and Black won 41%. The most popular continuation is 6… d5 (40% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.12 (Stockfish, depth 60; best line 6… d5 7. Bb5 Ne4 8. cxd4 Bb6 9. Nc3)
- ECO
- C54
- Moves
- 11 plies
- FEN
r1bqk2r/pppp1ppp/2n2n2/2b1P3/2Bp4/2P2N2/PP3PPP/RNBQK2R b KQkq - 0 6- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Nf6 5. d4 exd4 6. e5
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 699 | |
| 1500-1999 | 1,871 | |
| 2000+ | 443 | |
| All | 3,013 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 6… d5 Classical Variation, Greco Gambit, Modern Line (6. e5 d5) | 1,202 (40%) | |
| 6… Ng4 | 614 (20%) | |
| 6… Ne4 | 471 (16%) | |
| 6… Qe7 | 400 (13%) | |
| 6… Ng8 | 152 (5%) | |
| 6… dxc3 | 53 (2%) | |
| 6… Nxe5 | 52 (2%) | |
| 6… Bb4 | 36 (1%) |
Master games
161 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 73%, draw 10%, Black 17%). The strongest:
- GM Steven Zierk (2488) – Qingyu Yuan (2373) 1/2-1/2 · Titled Tue 17th Jan Late · 2023-01-17
- IM Matthias Dann (2493) – FM Giso Jahncke (2350) 1/2-1/2 · GRENKE Chess Open 2017 · 2017-04-16
- GM Valentina Gunina (2431) – WGM Zeinab Mamedjarova (2274) 0-1 · Women's Speed Chess Q4 · 2020-06-21
- IM Malte Colpe (2367) – FM Dmitry Tatarinov (2314) 0-1 · Titled Tue 28th Jun Late · 2022-06-28
- IM Leonardo Duarte (2299) – IM Dashgyn Ibadov (2372) 0-1 · Titled Tue 25th Jul Early · 2023-07-25
Highest-rated Lichess games
- GM athena-pallada (2877) – Kruciatos (2733) 1-0 · 2026-09-06 · 180 + 0s
- IM AngelitoRT (2889) – Kruciatos (2679) 0-1 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
- GM athena-pallada (2881) – Kruciatos (2681) 1-0 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Italian Game: Classical Variation, Center Attack 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Nf6 5. d4
Continuations
- Italian Game: Classical Variation, Greco Gambit, Modern Line (6. e5 d5) C54 · 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Nf6 5. d4 exd4 6. e5 d5
- Italian Game: Classical Variation, Ghulam-Kassim Variation C54 · 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Nf6 5. d4 exd4 6. e5 Ne4 7. Bd5 Nxf2 8. Kxf2 dxc3+ 9. Kg3
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.