Italian Game: Classical Variation, Center Attack
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Statistics from Lichess
4,196,351 games: White 52.6% / Draw 4.7% / Black 42.7%
| Next move | Games | White / Draw / BlackW / D / B |
|---|---|---|
| 4,059,3974.1M | ||
| 65,08065K | ||
| 36,11336K | ||
| 8,2778,277 | ||
| 7,5827,582 | ||
| 6,3336,333 | ||
| 5,0375,037 | ||
| 3,9753,975 |
Rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, from the Lichess opening explorer, updated Oct 20, 2026
Engine evaluation
+0.19 The position is about equal
Best play: 5... exd4 6. e5 d5 7. Bb5 Ne4 8. cxd4 Bb6 9. Be3 O-O 10. Nc3
Stockfish 19, depth 30, after the line's last move. Scores are in pawns, from White's side.
By rating
The stronger the players, the worse this line does for White: White scores 56% under 1400, 53% at 2200 and up and 51% in master games (wins plus half the draws).
| Players | Games | White / Draw / BlackW / D / B |
|---|---|---|
| Under 1400 | 1.8M | |
| 1400–1799 | 3.6M | |
| 1800–2199 | 2.1M | |
| 2200 and up | 226K | |
| Masters, over the board | 2,846 |
Master games
- Nepomniachtchi, I. – Carlsen, M.
- So, W. – Carlsen, M.
- Giri, A. – Carlsen, M.
- So, W. – Carlsen, M.
- So, W. – Carlsen, M.
Rated blitz, rapid and classical Lichess games by rating band, and over-the-board games of players rated 2200+ from the Lichess masters database, updated Sep 26, 2026
Overview
Italian Game: Classical Variation, Center Attack (ECO C54, Open Games) is a variation of the Italian Game: Classical Variation, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Nf6 5. d4 (5 moves).
In 4,196,351 rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, White won 52.6%, Black 42.7% and 4.7% were drawn. Black's most played move here is 5…exd4, in 97% of those games.
It branches into 4 named variations; the most played are Italian Game: Classical Variation, Greco Gambit, Traditional Line and Italian Game: Classical Variation, Greco Gambit, Modern Line. In all, 18 named lines continue from it.
Written from the Lichess opening list and explorer. Know this line well? Write about it.
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Popularity by year
The Italian Game: Classical Variation, Center Attack has gained ground since 2016: 0.14% of Lichess games in 2025, up from 0.12% (its peak: 0.19% in 2021).
Numbers by year
| Year | Share of games | Games |
|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 0.12% | 41,515 |
| 2017 | 0.14% | 77,199 |
| 2018 | 0.14% | 111,452 |
| 2019 | 0.14% | 171,613 |
| 2020 | 0.18% | 513,333 |
| 2021 | 0.19% | 753,381 |
| 2022 | 0.17% | 649,834 |
| 2023 | 0.17% | 631,485 |
| 2024 | 0.15% | 546,379 |
| 2025 | 0.14% | 496,555 |
| 2026 (Jan–Apr) | 0.14% | 148,628 |
Share of rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500 (blitz, rapid and classical) that reach this position, by year; 2026: January to April. Which openings are rising and falling
Variations (4)
All 18 named lines that continue from here
- C54 Italian Game: Classical Variation, Greco Gambit, Dubov Italian 6 moves
- C54 Italian Game: Classical Variation, Greco Gambit, Modern Line 6 moves
- C54 Italian Game: Classical Variation, Greco Gambit, Traditional Line 6 moves
- C56 Italian Game: Scotch Gambit, Walbrodt-Baird Gambit 6 moves
- C54 Italian Game: Classical Variation, Ghulam-Kassim Variation 9 moves
- C54 Modern Line 6 moves
- C54 Italian Game: Giuoco Piano, Cracow Variation 7 moves
- C54 Italian Game: Giuoco Piano, Greco's Attack 7 moves
- C54 Italian Game: Giuoco Piano, Krause Variation 12 moves
- C54 Italian Game: Classical Variation, Greco Gambit, Anderssen Variation 8 moves
- C54 Italian Game: Classical Variation, Greco Gambit, Greco Variation 8 moves
- C54 Italian Game: Classical Variation, Greco Gambit, Main Line 8 moves
- C54 Italian Game: Classical Variation, Greco Gambit, Moeller-Therkatz Attack 9 moves
- C54 Italian Game: Giuoco Piano, Aitken Variation 10 moves
- C54 Italian Game: Giuoco Piano, Bernstein Variation 10 moves
- C54 Italian Game: Giuoco Piano, Steinitz Variation 10 moves
- C54 Italian Game: Classical Variation, Greco Gambit, Moeller-Bayonet Attack 12 moves
- C54 Italian Game: Giuoco Piano, Therkatz-Herzog Variation 14 moves
Cite this page
Caissa Codex. “Italian Game: Classical Variation, Center Attack (C54)”. Lichess data as of 20 Oct 2026. https://chesscodex.org/openings/italian-game-classical-variation-center-attack