C54

Italian Game: Classical Variation, Greco Gambit, Greco Variation

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Statistics from Lichess

284,656 games: White 61.6% / Draw 3.4% / Black 35.0%

The moves played next. Pick one to see it on the board.
Next move	Games	White / Draw / BlackW / D / B
	261,993262K
	12,21112K
	5,3825,382
	2,5232,523
	1,4121,412
	718718
	259259
	3838

Rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, from the Lichess opening explorer, updated Nov 2, 2026

Engine evaluation

+0.14 The position is about equal

Best play: 9. bxc3 d5 10. Re1+ Be7 11. Bd3 O-O 12. Rb1 Rb8 13. h3 Be6

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 better this line does for Black: Black scores 39% under 1400, 44% at 2200 and up (wins plus half the draws).

Players	Games	White / Draw / BlackW / D / B
Under 1400	78K
1400–1799	272K
1800–2199	127K
2200 and up	3,700
Masters, over the board	4

Master games

Shumiakina, T. – Litinskaya, M. I. ½–½, 1997
Fabrega, E. – De Souza, M. G. 0–1, 1995
Boricsev, O. – Sevostianov, P. ½–½, 2017
Schlesinger, O. – Roeberg, F. ½–½, 1994

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, Greco Variation (ECO C54, Open Games) is a gambit in the Italian Game: Giuoco Piano, Greco's Attack, 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 Nxc3 (8 moves).

In 284,656 rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, White won 61.6%, Black 35.0% and 3.4% were drawn. White's most played move here is 9. bxc3, in 92% of those games.

It branches into 2 named variations; the most played are Italian Game: Giuoco Piano, Aitken Variation and Italian Game: Giuoco Piano, Bernstein Variation.

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Description

Popularity by year

The Italian Game: Classical Variation, Greco Gambit, Greco Variation peaked in 2021 at 0.013% of Lichess games and has slipped since: 0.0097% in 2025.

0.0085%0.0097%0.013%

Numbers by year

Year	Share of games	Games
2016	0.0085%	3,044
2017	0.011%	5,843
2018	0.01%	7,973
2019	0.0097%	12,129
2020	0.012%	35,278
2021	0.013%	49,320
2022	0.012%	44,306
2023	0.011%	43,098
2024	0.01%	36,542
2025	0.0097%	33,665
2026 (Jan–Apr)	0.0088%	9,684

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 (2)

Cite this page

Caissa Codex. “Italian Game: Classical Variation, Greco Gambit, Greco Variation (C54)”. Lichess data as of 2 Nov 2026. https://chesscodex.org/openings/italian-game-classical-variation-greco-gambit-greco-variation