Italian Game: Giuoco Pianissimo, Canal Variation
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. d3 Nf6 5. Nc3 d6 6. Bg5
The Italian Game: Giuoco Pianissimo, Canal Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO C50, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. d3 Nf6 5. Nc3 d6 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 240 times by this move order. White won 56%, 6% were drawn and Black won 38%. The most popular continuation is 6… h6 (51% of games).
Engine evaluation: 0.00 (Stockfish, depth 65; best line 6… h6 7. Bxf6 Qxf6 8. Nd5 Qd8 9. c3)
- ECO
- C50
- Moves
- 11 plies
- FEN
r1bqk2r/ppp2ppp/2np1n2/2b1p1B1/2B1P3/2NP1N2/PPP2PPP/R2QK2R b KQkq - 1 6- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. d3 Nf6 5. Nc3 d6 6. Bg5
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 98 | |
| 1500-1999 | 113 | |
| 2000+ | 29 | |
| All | 240 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 6… h6 | 123 (51%) | |
| 6… Bg4 | 40 (17%) | |
| 6… Be6 | 40 (17%) | |
| 6… O-O | 22 (9%) | |
| 6… a6 | 5 (2%) | |
| 6… Ne7 | 2 (1%) | |
| 6… Bb4 | 2 (1%) | |
| 6… Nd4 | 1 (0%) |
Master games
89 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 44%, draw 26%, Black 30%). The strongest:
- GM Eltaj Safarli (2653) – GM Erwin L'Ami (2627) 1/2-1/2 · 78th Tata Steel GpB · 2016-01-26
- GM Michele Godena (2511) – GM Avetik Grigoryan (2616) 0-1 · 14th Euro Indiv 2013 · 2013-05-06
- GM Ventzislav Inkiov (2408) – GM Tamir Nabaty (2575) 0-1 · 63rd TCh-BUL GpA 2013 · 2013-09-23
- IM Gulnar Mammadova (2382) – GM Abhimanyu Puranik (2584) 0-1 · Titled Tue 11th Aug · 2020-08-11
- FM Borna Franc (2245) – GM Dmitry Andreikin (2717) 1/2-1/2 · Titled Tue 18th Aug 2026 · 2026-08-18
Search all games of the Italian Game: Giuoco Pianissimo, Canal Variation and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- Korolenko (2337) – Karthi12 (2296) 0-1 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 2s
- rubis_scube (2214) – upik_upik (2373) 0-1 · 2026-09-07 · 600 + 0s
- sungjinwoo_sololevel (2294) – chess_mm77 (2266) 1/2-1/2 · 2026-09-02 · 600 + 0s
Comes from
Italian Game: Giuoco Pianissimo, Italian Four Knights Variation 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. d3 Nf6 5. Nc3
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, Dubois Variation C50
- Italian Game: Giuoco Pianissimo, Lucchini Gambit C50
- Italian Game: Giuoco Pianissimo, Normal 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.