Italian Game: Giuoco Piano, Rosentreter Variation
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. O-O Bc5 5. d4 Bxd4 6. Nxd4 Nxd4 7. Bg5 h6 8. Bh4 g5 9. f4
The Italian Game: Giuoco Piano, Rosentreter Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO C54, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. O-O Bc5 5. d4 Bxd4 6. Nxd4 Nxd4 7. Bg5 h6 8. Bh4 g5 9. f4. 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 8 times by this move order. White won 38%, 12% were drawn and Black won 50%. The most popular continuation is 9… gxh4 (50% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.22 (Stockfish, depth 40; best line 9… d5 10. exd5 gxh4 11. fxe5 Nxd5 12. Qxd4)
- ECO
- C54
- Moves
- 17 plies
- FEN
r1bqk2r/pppp1p2/5n1p/4p1p1/2BnPP1B/8/PPP3PP/RN1Q1RK1 b kq - 0 9- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. O-O Bc5 5. d4 Bxd4 6. Nxd4 Nxd4 7. Bg5 h6 8. Bh4 g5 9. f4
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 1500-1999 | 4 | |
| 2000+ | 4 | |
| All | 8 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 9… gxh4 | 4 (50%) | |
| 9… gxf4 | 2 (25%) | |
| 9… d5 | 1 (13%) | |
| 9… d6 | 1 (13%) |
Master games
3 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 100%, draw 0%, Black 0%). The strongest:
- FM Erick Marvin Guevara Sanchez (2173) – Juan Manuel Quiroga Garza (2190) 1-0 · Titled Tuesday 2nd Feb · 2021-02-02
- CM Tsogtbileg Anand (1969) – CM Slawomir Kurpiewski (1973) 1-0 · Titled Tue 7th Apr 2026 · 2026-04-07
Search all games of the Italian Game: Giuoco Piano, Rosentreter Variation and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- HAfzali (2372) – XUEYAO1233 (2433) 1-0 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 0s
- Kazuyaelpro (2203) – Embeng (2225) 0-1 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
- DTT2000 (2220) – Madhav99999 (2206) 1-0 · 2026-09-04 · 600 + 0s
Comes from
Italian Game: Two Knights Defense (3. Bc4 Nf6) 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6
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.