Italian Game: Giuoco Piano, Aitken Variation
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Nf6 5. d4 exd4 6. cxd4 Bb4+ 7. Nc3 Nxe4 8. O-O Nxc3 9. bxc3 Bxc3 10. Ba3
The Italian Game: Giuoco Piano, Aitken Variation 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 Bb4+ 7. Nc3 Nxe4 8. O-O Nxc3 9. bxc3 Bxc3 10. Ba3. 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 343 times by this move order. White won 75%, 2% were drawn and Black won 23%. The most popular continuation is 10… Bxa1 (45% of games).
Engine evaluation: +2.37 (Stockfish, depth 44; best line 10… d5 11. Bb5 Bxa1 12. Re1+ Be6 13. Qc2)
- ECO
- C54
- Moves
- 19 plies
- FEN
r1bqk2r/pppp1ppp/2n5/8/2BP4/B1b2N2/P4PPP/R2Q1RK1 b kq - 1 10- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Nf6 5. d4 exd4 6. cxd4 Bb4+ 7. Nc3 Nxe4 8. O-O Nxc3 9. bxc3 Bxc3 10. Ba3
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 167 | |
| 1500-1999 | 168 | |
| 2000+ | 8 | |
| All | 343 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 10… Bxa1 | 155 (45%) | |
| 10… d6 | 146 (43%) | |
| 10… d5 | 21 (6%) | |
| 10… Bb4 | 15 (4%) | |
| 10… Ne7 | 2 (1%) | |
| 10… Ba5 | 1 (0%) | |
| 10… Bxd4 | 1 (0%) | |
| 10… a6 | 1 (0%) |
Master games
8 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 75%, draw 0%, Black 25%). The strongest:
- FM Walter Cuevas Araya (2032) – FM Valerio Carnicelli (2378) 0-1 · Titled Tue 11th Feb Late · 2025-02-11
- Maximiliano Sasson (1787) – Gaston Guzman (1374) 1-0 · 4th Marcel Duchamp Open · 2012-10-29
Search all games of the Italian Game: Giuoco Piano, Aitken Variation and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- Best_Player-13 (2539) – Chess_Hunter_Live_In (2245) 1-0 · 2026-09-05 · 900 + 15s
- MasterBlaster2 (2270) – davidtorres (2228) 0-1 · 2026-09-06 · 180 + 0s
- packpaul (2094) – chessmusketier50 (2145) 1-0 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 2s
Comes from
Italian Game: Classical Variation, Greco Gambit, Greco Variation 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Nf6 5. d4 exd4 6. cxd4 Bb4+ 7. Nc3 Nxe4 8. O-O Nxc3
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.