Italian Game: Giuoco Pianissimo, Italian Four Knights Variation
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. d3 Nf6 5. Nc3
The Italian Game: Giuoco Pianissimo, Italian Four Knights 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. It is a line of the Italian Game. Black is to move. 1 named line continues from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 2,145 times by this move order. White won 52%, 5% were drawn and Black won 43%. The most popular continuation is 5… O-O (37% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.07 (Stockfish, depth 55; best line 5… d6 6. Na4 Bb6 7. Nxb6 axb6 8. a4)
- ECO
- C50
- Moves
- 9 plies
- FEN
r1bqk2r/pppp1ppp/2n2n2/2b1p3/2B1P3/2NP1N2/PPP2PPP/R1BQK2R b KQkq - 2 5- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. d3 Nf6 5. Nc3
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 1,164 | |
| 1500-1999 | 818 | |
| 2000+ | 163 | |
| All | 2,145 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 5… O-O | 804 (37%) | |
| 5… d6 | 724 (34%) | |
| 5… h6 | 330 (15%) | |
| 5… Ng4 | 109 (5%) | |
| 5… a6 | 74 (3%) | |
| 5… Nd4 | 27 (1%) | |
| 5… Na5 | 13 (1%) | |
| 5… Bb4 | 12 (1%) |
Master games
1,234 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 37%, draw 30%, Black 33%). The strongest:
- GM Ian Nepomniachtchi (2755) – GM Magnus Carlsen (2831) 1/2-1/2 · CCT Final RR 2024 · 2024-12-17
- GM Ian Nepomniachtchi (2792) – GM So, W. (2773) 1/2-1/2 · Chess.com RCC Wk25 Swiss · 2022-08-13
- GM Anish Giri (2768) – GM Viswanathan Anand (2793) 1-0 · 6th London CC Elite Blitz 2014 · 2014-12-08
- GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov (2771) – GM Fabiano Caruana (2784) 1-0 · Esports World Cup D 2025 · 2025-07-30
- GM Ian Nepomniachtchi (2792) – GM Alireza Firouzja (2759) 1/2-1/2 · GCT Rapid Paris 2021 · 2021-06-20
Highest-rated Lichess games
- ShadowNinja7i (2624) – IM Welcome_to_Flagistan (2601) 1-0 · 2026-09-06 · 600 + 0s
- BlackRakoun (2547) – gedchess (2490) 0-1 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
- Direktor_parka (2458) – Najdorf26 (2556) 0-1 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 2s
Comes from
Italian Game: Giuoco Pianissimo (3… Bc5 4. d3) 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. d3
Continuations
- Italian Game: Giuoco Pianissimo, Canal Variation C50 · 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. d3 Nf6 5. Nc3 d6 6. Bg5
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 (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
- Italian Game: Giuoco Piano 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.