The Italian Game starts 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4. White develops the king's bishop to c4, where it points at f7, the square next to Black's king that only the king defends at the start. White castles quickly and often prepares d4 with c3. It leads to open games where quick development and king safety matter more than memorised lines.
How often it is played, and how it scores
These numbers come from 1,872,138 rated blitz, rapid and classical games played on Lichess in March, July, August and September 2026, grouped by the players' average rating. The share is of the games that reached the position before 3.Bc4, where White chose it; the score is White's, counting a draw as half.
- under 800: 1,063 games, 34.2% of the games after 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6; White scored 56.7%, with 4.2% draws
- 800 to 1,199: 16,382 games, 42.0% of the games after 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6; White scored 53.2%, with 3.4% draws
- 1,200 to 1,599: 34,733 games, 43.3% of the games after 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6; White scored 52.5%, with 3.3% draws
- 1,600 to 1,999: 26,216 games, 42.9% of the games after 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6; White scored 51.8%, with 4.5% draws
- 2,000 and above: 4,810 games, 36.0% of the games after 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6; White scored 50.2%, with 5.8% draws
What else White plays there
After 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6, players rated 1,200 to 1,599 chose:
- 3.Bc4 (the Italian Game): 43.3% of games, White scored 52.5%
- 3.d4: 19.8% of games, White scored 55.4%
- 3.Bb5: 18.6% of games, White scored 53.4%
- 3.Nc3: 11.1% of games, White scored 50.4%
The replies Black chooses
Among players rated 1,200 to 1,599, the most common answers to 3.Bc4 were:
- 3...Nf6: 32.0% of games, White scored 53.0%
- 3...Bc5: 29.9% of games, White scored 50.9%
- 3...h6: 17.6% of games, White scored 53.1%
- 3...d6: 6.4% of games, White scored 56.7%
Among players rated 2,000 and above, the same move was the first choice, in 42.8% of games, and White scored 47.8% after it.
Where it scores more than its position deserves
GreyChess compared each opening's results with what the engine's evaluation after move 6 and the players' rating difference predict, in 2,509,936 rated Lichess games from June 2024 to September 2026. Here a game counts under the opening name Lichess gives it, the deepest named line it reached, so the counts are not the same as those above. These lines stood out:
- Italian Game: Paris Defense (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 d6), players rated 1,600 to 1,999: White scored 59.7% in 2,267 games, 6.2 percentage points more than the evaluation predicts.
Learn it
The lesson The Italian Game walks through the main ideas with positions to play. If you play it, GreyChess's opening repertoire builds your lines from the moves you actually play, so you practise what comes up in your own games.