About this opening
Italian Game: Giuoco Piano, Therkatz-Herzog Variation is an opening in the Encyclopedia of Chess Openings,
classified under code C54. ECO group C (C00–C99)
covers open games (1.e4 e5) and the French Defence, including the Ruy Lopez, Italian, Scotch and King's Gambit. This particular variation is reached
after 27 half-moves from the
starting position, with the move sequence 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Nf6 5. d4 exd4 6. cxd4 Bb4+ 7. Nc3 Nxe4 8. O-O Bxc3 9. d5 Bf6 10. Re1 Ne7 11. Rxe4 d6 12. Bg5 Bxg5 13. Nxg5 O-O 14. Nxh7.
It belongs to the Italian Game family.
Within that family this is a level-2 branch (the Giuoco Piano → Therkatz-Herzog Variation line). The immediate parent line is Italian Game: Giuoco Piano, transitioned via 14.Nxh7.
The opening sequence in prose form: 1.e4 e5, 2.Nf3 Nc6, 3.Bc4 Bc5, 4.c3 Nf6, 5.d4 exd4, 6.cxd4 Bb4+. From this position the encyclopaedia records no further canonical continuations — practical play branches into unnamed transpositions or returns to the parent line for alternative ideas.
Use the interactive board above to walk through the moves position-by-position. Click any move in the navigation to step backwards, or use the keyboard arrow keys. For statistical data — how often master-level players have reached this position, White's win-rate, draw frequency, Black's score — see the panel in the right column.
Caissly's coverage of C54 extends through every named sub-variation in this line and across all four locales (English, Spanish, Portuguese, Russian). Where editorial commentary exists for a specific variation it appears as the page body; otherwise the page presents the structural data, board, and statistics as shown here.