Italian Game
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4
The Italian Game is a chess opening reached after 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4, catalogued under code C50 in the Encyclopaedia of Chess Openings (ECO).
The defining move Bc4 is chosen by White on move 3.
18 named continuations branch from this position, including the Anti-Fried Liver Defense and the Blackburne-Kostić Gambit.
What is the Italian Game?
The Italian Game is a chess opening that begins 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4. White develops the king's bishop to its most active diagonal, where it points at f7, the weakest square in Black's camp, and prepares to castle within two moves. It is the oldest recorded opening in chess and still one of the most played at every level, from a child's first tournament to the world championship.
The name covers a whole family. After 3...Bc5 the game is a Giuoco Piano, the "quiet game", where both sides build slowly with c3 and d3. After 3...Nf6 it becomes the Two Knights Defense, where Black invites the sharp 4.Ng5 and the Fried Liver Attack. White can also gamble a pawn with 4.b4, the Evans Gambit, for a lead in development. What unites every branch is the same strategic question: can White turn the c4-bishop and the coming d4 break into lasting pressure before Black completes development?
How to reach the Italian Game
The Italian arises from the Open Games. After 1.e4 e5 White plays 2.Nf3, attacking e5, and Black defends with 2...Nc6. Now 3.Bc4 is the Italian; the alternatives are 3.Bb5, the Ruy Lopez, and 3.d4, the Scotch Game. Black's reply on move three chooses the branch: 3...Bc5 for the Giuoco Piano, 3...Nf6 for the Two Knights, and the rarer 3...Be7, the Hungarian Defense, for a solid but passive setup. If Black answers 2.Nf3 with 2...Nf6 instead, the game is a Petrov and the Italian bishop never arrives.
Pros and cons of the Italian Game
Pros
- Fast, natural development: bishop, knight and castling in four moves, with every piece on a sensible square.
- Direct pressure on f7 gives White concrete attacking ideas from move four, which is why it teaches tactics so well.
- The modern slow Italian with c3 and d3 is a serious weapon with far less memorization than the Ruy Lopez.
- Rich choice of styles: quiet maneuvering, the pawn-sacrificing Evans Gambit, or the forcing Fried Liver.
Cons
- The c4-bishop is a target: ...d5 breaks and ...Na5 ideas can trade it off or push it back with tempo.
- Against accurate play White gets only a small edge; there is no forced advantage to chase.
- The Two Knights lines demand precise knowledge, and a careless 4.Ng5 player can walk into the Traxler Counterattack.
- Symmetrical pawn structures can become drawish if White plays without a plan.
Main variations of the Italian Game
Giuoco Piano, main line (4.c3 Nf6 5.d3)
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.c3 Nf6 5.d3 d6 6.O-O O-O
The modern heart of the Italian. White supports a later d4 with c3 but keeps the center closed for now with d3, castles, and only then expands with a4, Re1, Nbd2 and h3. The slow buildup is what elite players prefer: nothing is forced, yet the bishop pair and the d4 break give White a lasting pull. Black mirrors with ...a6, ...Ba7 and ...h6, and the fight is about who times the central break better.
Giuoco Piano, classical center (4.c3 Nf6 5.d4)
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.c3 Nf6 5.d4 exd4 6.cxd4 Bb4+ 7.Bd2 Bxd2+ 8.Nbxd2 d5
The nineteenth-century way: White grabs the full center immediately. Black's 6...Bb4+ forces a trade of dark-squared bishops, and 8...d5 challenges the center head-on. The resulting positions are open and equal but full of piece play, and White must be ready for the bold 7.Nc3 Nxe4 pawn sacrifice if the Bd2 line feels too tame.
Evans Gambit (4.b4)
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.b4 Bxb4 5.c3 Ba5 6.d4 exd4 7.O-O
White sacrifices the b-pawn to gain c3 and d4 with tempo and to open lines against the black king before it can castle. Kasparov revived it against Anand in 1995 and it remains a dangerous surprise weapon: Black must know the precise defenses, such as returning the pawn with ...d6 and ...Bb6, or the initiative becomes decisive.
Two Knights Defense, Fried Liver Attack (4.Ng5 d5 5.exd5 Nxd5)
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Ng5 d5 5.exd5 Nxd5 6.Nxf7 Kxf7 7.Qf3+ Ke6 8.Nc3
The most famous attacking line in the Italian. White sacrifices a knight on f7 to drag the black king to e6, where it faces the whole white army. Engines judge it roughly balanced with perfect defense, but over the board Black's task is miserable. The responsible alternative for Black is 5...Na5, the Polerio Defense, giving up a pawn to avoid the fireworks.
Two Knights Defense, quiet 4.d3
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.d3 Bc5 5.c3 d6 6.O-O O-O
White declines the adventure and steers back into the slow Italian structure. This is the most common Two Knights position in master play today: White keeps the bishop, prepares Nbd2, Re1 and a later d4, and Black chooses between the solid ...d6 setup and the more ambitious ...d5 break after ...a6 and ...Ba7.
Hungarian Defense (3...Be7)
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Be7 4.d4 d6 5.Nc3 Nf6
Black keeps the bishop modest to avoid every gambit and every Ng5 trick. It is solid and slightly passive: White gets a free hand in the center with d4 and a comfortable space advantage, but Black's position has no weaknesses and the plan of ...O-O, ...Bg4 and ...exd4 is easy to play.
How to play against the Italian Game
Black has three good answers, and the choice is a matter of taste. The simplest is 3...Bc5 followed by ...Nf6, ...d6, ...a6 and ...Ba7, mirroring White's setup; the bishop on a7 is safe from a4-a5 and keeps eyeing f2, and the ...d5 break equalizes once Black is fully developed. The most ambitious is 3...Nf6, the Two Knights, which challenges e4 immediately, but Black then needs a prepared answer to 4.Ng5: either the Polerio 5...Na5 or the wild Traxler 4...Bc5. Against the Evans Gambit, decline nothing and return the pawn with 5...Ba5 6.d4 d6, when White's compensation is real but not more. Whatever the branch, the two guiding rules are the same: fight for d5, and never let the c4-bishop and a knight on g5 aim at f7 while the king is still in the center.
Plans for both sides
White's plan
Castle early, play c3 and d3, and treat d4 as a break to prepare rather than to rush. The typical regrouping is Re1, Nbd2-f1-g3, h3 to keep pieces out of g4, and a4 to gain space and make room for the bishop on a2. Once the knight reaches g3 and the center opens with d4, the bishop pair and the pressure on f7 and e5 usually produce a kingside attack.
Black's plan
Complete development, then break with ...d5 at the moment it is properly supported. Trade the c4-bishop with ...Na5 or ...Be6 when White is slow, keep the dark-squared bishop on the a7-g1 diagonal, and use ...Re8 and ...h6 to solidify. In the Two Knights, counterattack the center at once rather than defending passively.
History of the Italian Game
The Italian is the oldest opening with recorded analysis. It appears in the Göttingen manuscript around 1490, and the sixteenth-century Italian masters Polerio and Greco, whose name survives in the Greco Gambit, built the first opening theory around 3.Bc4. The Evans Gambit was invented by the Welsh sea captain William Davies Evans in the 1820s and dominated attacking chess for half a century, including Anderssen's Evergreen Game of 1852. The Ruy Lopez then eclipsed the Italian for most of the twentieth century, until the slow c3 and d3 systems returned it to the top level; since the 2010s it has been a main weapon of Carlsen, Caruana and Anand, and it remains the opening most coaches teach first.
Italian Game FAQ
Is the Italian Game a good opening?
Yes. It is played at every level up to the world championship, it develops the pieces naturally, and it offers both quiet and sharp lines. It is the opening most coaches recommend to beginners because every move has a clear purpose.
What is the difference between the Italian Game and the Giuoco Piano?
The Italian Game is the position after 3.Bc4. The Giuoco Piano is the branch where Black answers 3...Bc5; the other main branch, 3...Nf6, is the Two Knights Defense.
Is the Italian Game aggressive?
It can be either. The Evans Gambit and the Fried Liver Attack are among the sharpest lines in chess, while the modern c3 and d3 system is a slow, positional buildup. The same first three moves lead to both.
How do you counter the Italian Game as Black?
Develop with 3...Bc5 or 3...Nf6, castle, and prepare the ...d5 break. Against 4.Ng5 in the Two Knights, know the Polerio Defense 5...Na5. Against the Evans Gambit, give the pawn back with ...Ba5 and ...d6 rather than clinging to it.
What is the ECO code for the Italian Game?
The Italian Game family occupies ECO codes C50 to C59. C50 is the starting position and the Giuoco Pianissimo, C51 and C52 cover the Evans Gambit, C53 and C54 the Giuoco Piano main lines, and C55 to C59 the Two Knights Defense.
Named variations
Study this line with a grandmaster
This position is covered in the Beat the Italian course: a GM-authored repertoire you study move by move, then practice against a human-like AI opponent.
Every chess term used here is defined in the chess terms glossary. Browse all opening courses or the full ECO code index.