Italian Game: Classical Variation, Greco Gambit, Traditional Line
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Nf6 5. d4 exd4 6. cxd4
The Italian Game: Classical Variation, Greco Gambit, Traditional 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. cxd4. 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 10,034 times by this move order. White won 52%, 4% were drawn and Black won 44%. The most popular continuation is 6… Bb4+ (81% of games).
Engine evaluation: −0.01 (Stockfish, depth 55; best line 6… Bb4+ 7. Nbd2 Nxe4 8. d5 Nxd2 9. Bxd2)
- ECO
- C54
- Moves
- 11 plies
- FEN
r1bqk2r/pppp1ppp/2n2n2/2b5/2BPP3/5N2/PP3PPP/RNBQK2R b KQkq - 0 6- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Nf6 5. d4 exd4 6. cxd4
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 4,438 | |
| 1500-1999 | 4,777 | |
| 2000+ | 819 | |
| All | 10,034 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 6… Bb4+ | 8,092 (81%) | |
| 6… Bb6 | 1,248 (12%) | |
| 6… Nxd4 | 260 (3%) | |
| 6… Bxd4 | 149 (1%) | |
| 6… Be7 | 109 (1%) | |
| 6… Nxe4 | 48 (0%) | |
| 6… d5 | 32 (0%) | |
| 6… Bd6 | 26 (0%) |
Master games
1,924 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 29%, draw 39%, Black 32%). The strongest:
- GM Fabiano Caruana (2766) – GM Magnus Carlsen (2859) 1/2-1/2 · chess.com SpeedChess 2022 · 2022-12-13
- GM Hikaru Nakamura (2799) – GM Anish Giri (2776) 1/2-1/2 · KM FIDE GP 2015 · 2015-05-16
- GM Levon Aronian (2782) – GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (2782) 1/2-1/2 · Aimchess US Rapid KO 2021 · 2021-09-01
- GM Levon Aronian (2782) – GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (2782) 1/2-1/2 · Aimchess US Rapid Prelim · 2021-08-29
- GM Ian Nepomniachtchi (2792) – GM Teimour Radjabov (2765) 1/2-1/2 · FTX Crypto Cup KO 2021 · 2021-05-30
Highest-rated Lichess games
- Brave_spirit_07 (2748) – Kruciatos (2725) 1/2-1/2 · 2026-09-06 · 180 + 0s
- El_Banditoff (2728) – ChampionssLeague (2654) 0-1 · 2026-09-06 · 180 + 0s
- TheorySpeedrun (2681) – anhbutk (2665) 0-1 · 2026-09-04 · 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: Giuoco Piano, Cracow Variation C54 · 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Nf6 5. d4 exd4 6. cxd4 Bb4+ 7. Kf1
- Italian Game: Giuoco Piano, Greco's Attack C54 · 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Nf6 5. d4 exd4 6. cxd4 Bb4+ 7. Nc3
- Italian Game: Giuoco Piano, Krause Variation C54 · 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Nf6 5. d4 exd4 6. cxd4 Bb4+ 7. Bd2 Nxe4 8. Bxb4 Nxb4 9. Bxf7+ Kxf7 10. Qb3+ d5 11. Ne5+ Kf6 12. f3
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.