Italian Game: Giuoco Piano, Steinitz 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 Bxc3 9. bxc3 d5 10. Ba3
The Italian Game: Giuoco Piano, Steinitz 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 Bxc3 9. bxc3 d5 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 18 times by this move order. White won 39%, 0% were drawn and Black won 61%. The most popular continuation is 10… dxc4 (67% of games).
Engine evaluation: −1.53 (Stockfish, depth 38; best line 10… dxc4 11. Re1 Qd5 12. Nd2 Be6 13. Rxe4)
- ECO
- C54
- Moves
- 19 plies
- FEN
r1bqk2r/ppp2ppp/2n5/3p4/2BPn3/B1P2N2/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 Bxc3 9. bxc3 d5 10. Ba3
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 1500-1999 | 11 | |
| 2000+ | 7 | |
| All | 18 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 10… dxc4 | 12 (67%) | |
| 10… Ne7 | 3 (17%) | |
| 10… Na5 | 1 (6%) | |
| 10… Be6 | 1 (6%) | |
| 10… Nxc3 | 1 (6%) |
Master games
15 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 47%, draw 13%, Black 40%). The strongest:
- FM Aleksa Petrovic (2332) – WGM Jiner Zhu (2507) 0-1 · Titled Tue 9th May Early · 2023-05-09
- FM Sebastian Eichner (2364) – Andreas Wetscherek (2319) 1-0 · 2nd Bundesliga Ost 2016-17 · 2016-10-14
- FM Agustin Ambrogi (2226) – IM Agasiyev, Ka. (2441) 0-1 · Titled Tue 6th Feb Early · 2024-02-06
- FM Aleksa Petrovic (2263) – Qingyu Yuan (2373) 0-1 · Titled Tue 27th Dec Late · 2022-12-27
- FM Agustin Ambrogi (2214) – FM Anastasia Avramidou (2310) 1-0 · Titled Tue 23rd Dec 2025 · 2025-12-23
Search all games of the Italian Game: Giuoco Piano, Steinitz Variation and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- FM AlexVerzhansky (2439) – anhbutk (2656) 0-1 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
- FM AlexVerzhansky (2446) – Rain_5 (2531) 0-1 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 0s
- FM AlexVerzhansky (2463) – slabovid4 (2480) 0-1 · 2026-09-06 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Italian Game: Classical Variation, Greco Gambit, Main Line 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.