Italian Game: Classical Variation, Greco Gambit, Anderssen Variation
Play any move on the board to explore from there, or step through the line with ‹ › and the arrow keys.
Statistics from Lichess
188,693 games: White 50.5% / Draw 6.9% / Black 42.6%
| Next move | Games | White / Draw / BlackW / D / B |
|---|---|---|
| 122,362122K | ||
| 60,78961K | ||
| 2,8822,882 | ||
| 1,9071,907 | ||
| 587587 | ||
| 9999 | ||
| 6767 |
Rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, from the Lichess opening explorer, updated Nov 2, 2026
Engine evaluation
+0.18 The position is about equal
Best play: 9. Bd2 O-O 10. O-O Nxd2 11. Nbxd2 Ne7 12. a3 Ba5 13. Bd3 Bb6
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 Black: Black scores 49% under 1400, 44% at 2200 and up (wins plus half the draws).
| Players | Games | White / Draw / BlackW / D / B |
|---|---|---|
| Under 1400 | 5,511 | |
| 1400–1799 | 44K | |
| 1800–2199 | 130K | |
| 2200 and up | 25K | |
| Masters, over the board | 166 |
Master games
- Leko, P. – Mamedyarov, S.
- Can, E. – Wei, Y.
- Shevchenko, K. – Narayanan, S.
- Kryvoruchko, Y. – Negi, P.
- Volokitin, A. – Howell, D.
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, Greco Gambit, Anderssen Variation (ECO C54, Open Games) is a gambit in the Italian Game: Classical Variation, Greco Gambit, Modern Line, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Nf6 5. d4 exd4 6. e5 d5 7. Bb5 Ne4 8. cxd4 Bb4+ (8 moves).
In 188,693 rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, White won 50.5%, Black 42.6% and 6.9% were drawn. White's most played move here is 9. Bd2, in 65% 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
How to play against the Italian Game: Classical Variation, Greco Gambit, Anderssen Variation
The most played answer, 9. Bd2, also scores best for White: 54.9%, with White winning 51.2% and Black 41.5% of 122K games. Of the main answers, 9. Nbd2 scores lowest: 53.4%. Stockfish's first choice is also 9. Bd2.
Main answers: those played in at least 5% of these games. Score: White's wins plus half the draws, in rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500. How to play against other popular openings
Popularity by year
The Italian Game: Classical Variation, Greco Gambit, Anderssen Variation is played more than twice as often as in 2016: 0.0079% of Lichess games in 2025, up from 0.003%.
Numbers by year
| Year | Share of games | Games |
|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 0.003% | 1,077 |
| 2017 | 0.0042% | 2,309 |
| 2018 | 0.0053% | 4,158 |
| 2019 | 0.0049% | 6,130 |
| 2020 | 0.0065% | 18,971 |
| 2021 | 0.007% | 27,503 |
| 2022 | 0.0075% | 28,283 |
| 2023 | 0.0084% | 31,598 |
| 2024 | 0.0083% | 29,839 |
| 2025 | 0.0079% | 27,370 |
| 2026 (Jan–Apr) | 0.0079% | 8,670 |
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, Greco Gambit, Anderssen Variation (C54)”. Lichess data as of 2 Nov 2026. https://chesscodex.org/openings/italian-game-classical-variation-greco-gambit-anderssen-variation