1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4
The Italian Game starts 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4. White develops the king's knight with an attack on e5, then puts the bishop on its most active diagonal, aiming at f7. At the start of the game f7 is the weakest point in Black's camp, because only the king defends it.
Black has two main answers. 3...Bc5 is the Giuoco Piano, Italian for 'quiet game', and leads to a slow fight in the centre. 3...Nf6 is the Two Knights Defense, which counter-attacks e4. Against it White can play the sharp 4.Ng5, which leads to the Fried Liver Attack, or keep things calm with 4.d3.
The Italian is popular at club level because the plans are easy to understand. It is also one of the main weapons of elite players, who prefer the slow 4.c3 and 5.d3 setup shown below. That line keeps plenty of pieces on the board and gives the better player time to outplay the opponent.
Step through the main line with Next and Prev, or click any move. Flip the board to see it from Black's side.
It follows every opening principle at once: a pawn in the centre, knights before bishops, castle early. You can play it fast and sharp with d4 or slow and strategic with d3, so it grows with you.
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.c3 Nf6 5.d3 d6 6.O-O O-O 7.Re1 a6 8.a4 Ba7 9.h3
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In the main line both sides keep pawns on e4 and e5 with d3 and d6 behind them. The centre is fixed, so the game is decided by piece play and by who gets a pawn break in first: d3-d4 for White, ...d6-d5 or ...f7-f5 for Black.
White's typical plan is Re1, Nbd2-f1-g3, h3 and then d3-d4 when the pieces are ready. If Black lets the e5 pawn be exchanged on d4, White recaptures with the c-pawn and gets a classical pawn centre.
In the open lines with 5.d4 exd4 6.cxd4 the structure changes completely: White gets pawns on e4 and d4 against Black's active pieces. Black has to hit that centre quickly with ...d5, or e4-e5 drives the f6 knight away.
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.d3 Be7 5.O-O O-O 6.Re1 d6
Black develops the knight first and counter-attacks e4. 4.d3 keeps the game quiet and leads to the same kind of slow position as the main line. The sharp alternative 4.Ng5 attacks f7 at once and leads to the Fried Liver Attack.
Fried Liver Attack: moves, ideas and traps1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.b4 Bxb4 5.c3 Ba5 6.d4
White gives up the b-pawn to deflect the c5 bishop and gain time for c3 and d4. Black usually takes and retreats to a5. White gets a big centre and fast development in exchange for the pawn. Garry Kasparov revived it with a famous win over Viswanathan Anand at Riga in 1995.
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.c3 Nf6 5.d4 exd4 6.cxd4 Bb4+ 7.Bd2 Bxd2+ 8.Nbxd2 d5
White opens the centre at once. After 5...exd4 6.cxd4 Bb4+ 7.Bd2 Bxd2+ 8.Nbxd2, Black must strike with 8...d5 to break up White's pawn centre. If Black plays passively, e4-e5 gains space and drives the f6 knight away.
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nd4 4.Nxe5 Qg5 5.Nxf7 Qxg2 6.Rf1 Qxe4+ 7.Be2 Nf3#
3...Nd4 leaves e5 hanging on purpose. If White grabs it with 4.Nxe5?, then 4...Qg5 attacks the knight and the g2 pawn at the same time. Taking another pawn with 5.Nxf7? runs into 5...Qxg2 6.Rf1 Qxe4+ 7.Be2 Nf3#: the bishop on e2 is pinned and the king has no squares. The correct reply to 3...Nd4 is simply 4.Nxd4 or 4.O-O, and White is clearly better.
The Italian Game is one of the oldest openings on record. Italian masters such as Gioachino Greco analysed it in the early 1600s, and the name Giuoco Piano dates from that era.
For most of the 20th century the Ruy Lopez was seen as the more testing choice at elite level. That changed in the 2010s: the Berlin Defense made the Ruy Lopez hard to win against, and many top players, Magnus Carlsen among them, turned to the slow c3 and d3 Italian instead.
Copy the position at the end of the main line, open the chess move calculator, paste it into the “Paste FEN” box under the board and press the FEN button next to it. Stockfish 19 then suggests a move for the side to play, at the strength set on the calculator's slider, and you can play on from there to test your own ideas.
r1bq1rk1/bpp2ppp/p1np1n2/4p3/P1B1P3/2PP1N1P/1P3PP1/RNBQR1K1 b - - 0 91. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Nf6 5. d3 d6 6. O-O O-O 7. Re1 a6 8. a4 Ba7 9. h3For a move-by-move review of a whole game you played with this opening, use the chess analysis board.
Knowing the moves is not the same as playing them under pressure. Play chess against the computer with the white pieces and steer the game toward the Italian Game from move one, then sharpen the tactics that come out of it with chess puzzles.
Go deeper: Checkmate patterns to know · Castling rules and timing
Yes. It follows the basic opening principles move by move: a centre pawn, knights out, bishop to an active square, castle. The ideas also stay useful as you improve, because the same slow c3 and d3 setup is played at grandmaster level.
Both start 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6. In the Italian, White plays 3.Bc4 and aims the bishop at f7. In the Ruy Lopez, White plays 3.Bb5 and pressures the knight that defends e5. The Italian is quicker to learn; the Ruy Lopez is the deeper strategic opening.
3...Bc5 (the Giuoco Piano) and 3...Nf6 (the Two Knights Defense) are both sound. 3...Bc5 is the calmer choice. 3...Nf6 invites 4.Ng5, so play it only if you know to answer 4.Ng5 with 4...d5 5.exd5 Na5, which avoids the Fried Liver Attack.
It is the Italian Game with 3...Bc5, reached after 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5. The name is Italian for 'quiet game', although the 5.d4 lines can become very sharp.
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