Italian Game: Giuoco Pianissimo (5… d6 6. d3)
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. O-O Bc5 5. Nc3 d6 6. d3
The Italian Game: Giuoco Pianissimo is a chess opening classified as ECO C50, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. O-O Bc5 5. Nc3 d6 6. d3. 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 115 times by this move order. White won 41%, 2% were drawn and Black won 57%. The most popular continuation is 6… Bg4 (44% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.04 (Stockfish, depth 50; best line 6… a6 7. Nd5 Nxd5 8. Bxd5 O-O 9. c3)
- ECO
- C50
- Moves
- 11 plies
- FEN
r1bqk2r/ppp2ppp/2np1n2/2b1p3/2B1P3/2NP1N2/PPP2PPP/R1BQ1RK1 b kq - 0 6- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. O-O Bc5 5. Nc3 d6 6. d3
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 73 | |
| 1500-1999 | 39 | |
| 2000+ | 3 | |
| All | 115 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 6… Bg4 | 51 (44%) | |
| 6… h6 | 24 (21%) | |
| 6… O-O | 17 (15%) | |
| 6… Be6 | 10 (9%) | |
| 6… a6 | 4 (3%) | |
| 6… Ng4 | 2 (2%) | |
| 6… Ne7 | 2 (2%) | |
| 6… Nd4 | 2 (2%) |
Master games
2 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 0%, draw 0%, Black 100%). The strongest:
- CM Rafal Zgadzaj (1988) – WIM Devindya Oshini Gunawardhana (2068) 0-1 · Titled Tue 27th May Early · 2025-05-27
Search all games of the Italian Game: Giuoco Pianissimo and its sub-variations
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Comes from
Italian Game: Two Knights Defense (3. Bc4 Nf6) 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6
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. 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
- Italian Game: Giuoco Pianissimo, Lucchini Gambit 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.