Italian Game: Classical Variation, Greco Gambit, Traditional Line
Play any move on the board to explore from there, or step through the line with ‹ › and the arrow keys.
Statistics from Lichess
2,941,608 games: White 51.1% / Draw 4.9% / Black 44.0%
| Next move | Games | White / Draw / BlackW / D / B |
|---|---|---|
| 2,587,8262.6M | ||
| 287,419287K | ||
| 24,74625K | ||
| 15,69516K | ||
| 6,6566,656 | ||
| 5,0745,074 | ||
| 4,2104,210 | ||
| 3,1973,197 |
Rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, from the Lichess opening explorer, updated Oct 27, 2026
Engine evaluation
0.00 The position is about equal
Best play: 6... Bb4+ 7. Nbd2 Nxe4 8. d5 Nxd2 9. Bxd2 Bxd2+ 10. Qxd2 Ne7 11. O-O-O
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 55% under 1400, 51% at 2200 and up and 43% in master games (wins plus half the draws).
| Players | Games | White / Draw / BlackW / D / B |
|---|---|---|
| Under 1400 | 1.3M | |
| 1400–1799 | 2.7M | |
| 1800–2199 | 1.4M | |
| 2200 and up | 131K | |
| Masters, over the board | 1,180 |
Master games
- Nakamura, H. – Giri, A.
- Radjabov, T. – Karjakin, S.
- Aronian, L. – Mamedyarov, S.
- So, W. – Aronian, L.
- Caruana, F. – Nakamura, H.
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, Greco Gambit, Traditional Line (ECO C54, Open Games) is a gambit in the Italian Game: Classical Variation, Center Attack, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Nf6 5. d4 exd4 6. cxd4 (6 moves).
In 2,941,608 rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, White won 51.1%, Black 44.0% and 4.9% were drawn. Black's most played move here is 6…Bb4+, in 88% of those games.
It branches into 3 named variations; the most played are Italian Game: Giuoco Piano, Greco's Attack and Italian Game: Giuoco Piano, Cracow Variation. In all, 11 named lines continue from it.
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, Traditional Line
The most played answer, 6…Bb4+, also scores best for Black: 47.4%, with Black winning 44.9% and White 50.0% of 2.6M games. Of the main answers, 6…Bb6 scores lowest: 41.0%. Stockfish's first choice is also 6…Bb4+.
Main answers: those played in at least 5% of these games. Score: Black'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, Traditional Line peaked in 2021 at 0.13% of Lichess games and has slipped since: 0.095% in 2025.
Numbers by year
| Year | Share of games | Games |
|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 0.097% | 34,534 |
| 2017 | 0.12% | 63,905 |
| 2018 | 0.11% | 89,738 |
| 2019 | 0.11% | 135,983 |
| 2020 | 0.13% | 388,547 |
| 2021 | 0.13% | 524,803 |
| 2022 | 0.12% | 447,019 |
| 2023 | 0.11% | 427,643 |
| 2024 | 0.1% | 363,049 |
| 2025 | 0.095% | 330,730 |
| 2026 (Jan–Apr) | 0.088% | 97,016 |
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 (3)
All 11 named lines that continue from here
- 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, 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, Greco Gambit, Traditional Line (C54)”. Lichess data as of 27 Oct 2026. https://chesscodex.org/openings/italian-game-classical-variation-greco-gambit-traditional-line