Italian Game: Classical Variation, Giuoco Pianissimo, Albin Variation
Play any move on the board to explore from there, or step through the line with ‹ › and the arrow keys.
Statistics from Lichess
184,439 games: White 46.1% / Draw 4.6% / Black 49.3%
| Next move | Games | White / Draw / BlackW / D / B |
|---|---|---|
| 181,813182K | ||
| 666666 | ||
| 421421 | ||
| 377377 | ||
| 345345 | ||
| 243243 | ||
| 188188 | ||
| 125125 |
Rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, from the Lichess opening explorer, updated Nov 2, 2026
Engine evaluation
+0.07 The position is about equal
Best play: 6... Bb6 7. O-O O-O 8. a4 a5 9. b5 Ne7 10. Nbd2 Ng6 11. Bb3
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 53% under 1400, 46% at 2200 and up and 47% in master games (wins plus half the draws).
| Players | Games | White / Draw / BlackW / D / B |
|---|---|---|
| Under 1400 | 51K | |
| 1400–1799 | 121K | |
| 1800–2199 | 102K | |
| 2200 and up | 15K | |
| Masters, over the board | 352 |
Master games
- Caruana, F. – Anand, V.
- Caruana, F. – Firouzja, A.
- Caruana, F. – Giri, A.
- Caruana, F. – Sevian, S.
- Sindarov, J. – Mamedyarov, S.
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 27, 2026
Overview
Italian Game: Classical Variation, Giuoco Pianissimo, Albin Variation (ECO C54, Open Games) is a variation of the Italian Game: Classical Variation, Giuoco Pianissimo, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Nf6 5. d3 d6 6. b4 (6 moves).
In 184,439 rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, White won 46.1%, Black 49.3% and 4.6% were drawn. Black's most played move here is 6…Bb6, in 99% of those games.
Written from the Lichess opening list and explorer. Know this line well? Write about it.
Write a description or report a mistake
Popularity by year
The Italian Game: Classical Variation, Giuoco Pianissimo, Albin Variation is played more than twice as often as in 2016: 0.0086% of Lichess games in 2025, up from 0.0035%.
Numbers by year
| Year | Share of games | Games |
|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 0.0035% | 1,258 |
| 2017 | 0.0052% | 2,881 |
| 2018 | 0.0054% | 4,216 |
| 2019 | 0.0055% | 6,862 |
| 2020 | 0.0059% | 17,145 |
| 2021 | 0.0065% | 25,471 |
| 2022 | 0.0071% | 26,540 |
| 2023 | 0.0075% | 28,041 |
| 2024 | 0.0083% | 29,805 |
| 2025 | 0.0086% | 29,671 |
| 2026 (Jan–Apr) | 0.0087% | 9,487 |
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
Cite this page
Caissa Codex. “Italian Game: Classical Variation, Giuoco Pianissimo, Albin Variation (C54)”. Lichess data as of 2 Nov 2026. https://chesscodex.org/openings/italian-game-classical-variation-giuoco-pianissimo-albin-variation