Italian Game: Classical Variation, Mestel Variation
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Qe7 5. d4 Bb6 6. Bg5
The Italian Game: Classical Variation, Mestel Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO C53, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Qe7 5. d4 Bb6 6. Bg5. It is a line of the Italian Game. Black is to move.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 2 times by this move order. White won 50%, 0% were drawn and Black won 50%. The most popular continuation is 6… Nf6 (100% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.70 (Stockfish, depth 34; best line 6… Nf6 7. d5 Nd8 8. Bd3 d6 9. Nbd2)
- ECO
- C53
- Moves
- 11 plies
- FEN
r1b1k1nr/ppppqppp/1bn5/4p1B1/2BPP3/2P2N2/PP3PPP/RN1QK2R b KQkq - 2 6- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Qe7 5. d4 Bb6 6. Bg5
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 1500-1999 | 1 | |
| 2000+ | 1 | |
| All | 2 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 6… Nf6 | 2 (100%) |
Master games
6 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 83%, draw 17%, Black 0%). The strongest:
- LCZero 0.30-dag-a9b25c2b-BT2-3 (3598) – Stockfish dev-20230409-b36d39d (3639) 1-0 · TCEC 24 Superfinal 2023 · 2023-04-27
- Stockfish dev-20230409-b36d39d (3639) – LCZero 0.30-dag-a9b25c2b-BT2-3 (3598) 1-0 · TCEC 24 Superfinal 2023 · 2023-04-27
- FM Kacper Polok (2264) – IM Dusan Sekulic (2168) 1-0 · 6th Solta Open 2023 · 2023-07-02
- FM Christof Herbrechtsmeier (2177) – Hans-Wolfgang Walther (2111) 1/2-1/2 · World Senior Teams +65 · 2020-03-12
- FM Kaua Marques Silva (2199) – FM Haroldo Cunha Dos Santos Junior (2072) 1-0 · IV Duchamp Int Open 2022 · 2022-12-12
Search all games of the Italian Game: Classical Variation, Mestel Variation and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- stanislaw0 (2075) – KKKhazar (2059) 1-0 · 2026-09-03 · 300 + 0s
- E_R_I_C_A (1573) – Lakoss (1850) 0-1 · 2026-09-02 · 600 + 0s
Comes from
Italian Game: Classical Variation, Center Holding Variation 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Qe7 5. d4 Bb6
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.