Italian Game: Paris Defense
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 d6
The Italian Game: Paris Defense is a chess opening classified as ECO C50, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 d6. It is a line of the Italian Game. White is to move.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 36,106 times by this move order. White won 51%, 4% were drawn and Black won 45%. The most popular continuation is 4. d3 (22% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.36 (Stockfish, depth 60; best line 4. d4 exd4 5. Nxd4 Be7 6. Nc3 Nf6)
- ECO
- C50
- Moves
- 6 plies
- FEN
r1bqkbnr/ppp2ppp/2np4/4p3/2B1P3/5N2/PPPP1PPP/RNBQK2R w KQkq - 0 4- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 d6
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 19,100 | |
| 1500-1999 | 15,952 | |
| 2000+ | 1,054 | |
| All | 36,106 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 4. d3 | 8,012 (22%) | |
| 4. d4 | 7,144 (20%) | |
| 4. O-O | 5,370 (15%) | |
| 4. Nc3 | 5,117 (14%) | |
| 4. c3 | 4,907 (14%) | |
| 4. h3 | 4,092 (11%) | |
| 4. Ng5 | 671 (2%) | |
| 4. a3 | 248 (1%) |
Master games
1,506 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 45%, draw 18%, Black 37%). The strongest:
- Seer2.8.0 (3499) – Ethereal14.35 (3523) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 26 Premier 2024 · 2024-04-26
- Ethereal14.35 (3523) – Seer2.8.0 (3499) 1-0 · TCEC 26 Premier 2024 · 2024-04-24
- GM Magnus Carlsen (2839) – GM Fabiano Caruana (2789) 1-0 · chess.com SpeedChess 2025 · 2025-11-14
- GM Gukesh D (2752) – GM Magnus Carlsen (2839) 0-1 · Clutch Chess: Champions · 2025-10-28
- GM Praggnanandhaa R (2761) – GM Vincent Keymer (2776) 0-1 · World Blitz 2025 · 2025-12-30
Search all games of the Italian Game: Paris Defense and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- IM shuriks91 (2800) – johnsam1 (2746) 1-0 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
- canc3111 (2782) – Kruciatos (2735) 0-1 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 0s
- RoryMcCann (2697) – IM filolog (2693) 0-1 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Italian Game 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4
More Italian Game lines (all)
- 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
- Italian Game: Giuoco Pianissimo, Lucchini Gambit 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.