Italian Game: Giuoco Piano, Greco's Attack
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Nf6 5. d4 exd4 6. cxd4 Bb4+ 7. Nc3
The Italian Game: Giuoco Piano, Greco's Attack 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. It is a line of the Italian Game. Black is to move. 2 named lines continue from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 4,934 times by this move order. White won 52%, 4% were drawn and Black won 44%. The most popular continuation is 7… Nxe4 (60% of games).
Engine evaluation: −0.17 (Stockfish, depth 55; best line 7… Nxe4 8. O-O Bxc3 9. d5 Bf6 10. Re1)
- ECO
- C54
- Moves
- 13 plies
- FEN
r1bqk2r/pppp1ppp/2n2n2/8/1bBPP3/2N2N2/PP3PPP/R1BQK2R b KQkq - 2 7- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Nf6 5. d4 exd4 6. cxd4 Bb4+ 7. Nc3
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 1,858 | |
| 1500-1999 | 2,603 | |
| 2000+ | 473 | |
| All | 4,934 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 7… Nxe4 | 2,965 (60%) | |
| 7… Bxc3+ | 691 (14%) | |
| 7… O-O | 647 (13%) | |
| 7… d6 | 271 (5%) | |
| 7… d5 | 267 (5%) | |
| 7… h6 | 42 (1%) | |
| 7… Qe7 | 28 (1%) | |
| 7… Na5 | 6 (0%) |
Master games
188 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 54%, draw 10%, Black 36%). The strongest:
- GM Jorden Van Foreest (2671) – FM Denis Lazavik (2436) 1-0 · Titled Tuesday 10th Nov · 2020-11-10
- IM Shamil Arslanov (2410) – GM Ngoc Truong Son Nguyen (2600) 0-1 · Titled Tue 24th Mar 2026 · 2026-03-24
- IM Piotr Brodowski (2455) – IM Yasel Borges Ferias (2439) 0-1 · Titled Tue 7th Feb Early · 2023-02-07
- FM Vinzent Spitzl (2329) – GM Aman Hambleton (2454) 0-1 · Titled Tuesday 19th Oct · 2021-10-19
- FM Jasper Holtel (2330) – FM Francisco Javier Munoz (2389) 0-1 · Titled Tue 19th Mar Late · 2024-03-19
Search all games of the Italian Game: Giuoco Piano, Greco's Attack and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- Yaponets (2576) – livepage (2586) 0-1 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
- FM AlexVerzhansky (2439) – anhbutk (2656) 0-1 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
- Gary_Oldmen (2442) – eugmind (2557) 1-0 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
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
Continuations
- Italian Game: Classical Variation, Greco Gambit, Greco Variation C54 · 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
- Italian Game: Classical Variation, Greco Gambit, Main Line C54 · 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Nf6 5. d4 exd4 6. cxd4 Bb4+ 7. Nc3 Nxe4 8. O-O Bxc3
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.