Italian Game: Giuoco Piano, Cracow Variation
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Nf6 5. d4 exd4 6. cxd4 Bb4+ 7. Kf1
The Italian Game: Giuoco Piano, Cracow 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. Kf1. 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 63 times by this move order. White won 54%, 8% were drawn and Black won 38%. The most popular continuation is 7… Nxe4 (54% of games).
Engine evaluation: −0.21 (Stockfish, depth 50; best line 7… d5 8. exd5 Nxd5 9. Nc3 Be6 10. Nxd5)
- ECO
- C54
- Moves
- 13 plies
- FEN
r1bqk2r/pppp1ppp/2n2n2/8/1bBPP3/5N2/PP3PPP/RNBQ1K1R b kq - 2 7- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Nf6 5. d4 exd4 6. cxd4 Bb4+ 7. Kf1
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 5 | |
| 1500-1999 | 23 | |
| 2000+ | 35 | |
| All | 63 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 7… Nxe4 | 34 (54%) | |
| 7… d5 | 12 (19%) | |
| 7… O-O | 10 (16%) | |
| 7… d6 | 4 (6%) | |
| 7… Qe7 | 1 (2%) | |
| 7… Be7 | 1 (2%) | |
| 7… h6 | 1 (2%) |
Master games
55 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 44%, draw 18%, Black 38%). The strongest:
- FM Marco Riehle (2353) – GM Sanan Sjugirov (2696) 0-1 · Titled Tue 10th May Early · 2022-05-10
- FM Marco Riehle (2336) – GM Vahap Sanal (2601) 0-1 · Titled Tuesday 7th Dec · 2021-12-07
- FM Marco Riehle (2353) – GM Sergei Lobanov (2535) 1/2-1/2 · Titled Tue 6th Sep Late · 2022-09-06
- CM Tomasz Jaskolka (2241) – GM Igor Lysyj (2589) 0-1 · Titled Tue 6th Feb Late · 2024-02-06
- Finlay Bowcott-Terry (2232) – GM Luke J McShane (2597) 0-1 · 112th ch-GBR 2026 · 2026-08-01
Search all games of the Italian Game: Giuoco Piano, Cracow Variation and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- Chess_planet21 (2619) – emandr (2593) 0-1 · 2026-09-01 · 300 + 5s
- Chess_planet21 (2361) – Iamlegit01 (2485) 1-0 · 2026-09-06 · 180 + 0s
- BhArGaV_ChEsS64 (2348) – IM walaasarwat (2406) 0-1 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 2s
Comes from
Italian Game: Classical Variation, Greco Gambit, Traditional Line 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Nf6 5. d4 exd4 6. cxd4
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.