Open · a plan for White

Italian Game: Two Knights Defense, Fegatello Attack, Leonhardt Variation

22/22
1.e4e52.Nf3Nc63.Bc4Nf64.Ng5d55.exd5Nxd56.Nxf7Kxf77.Qf3+Ke68.Nc3Nb49.Qe4c610.a3Na611.d4Nc7
Live databaseLichess 1600–2000 · blitz + rapid
Italian Game: Two Knights Defense, Fegatello Attack, Leonhardt Variation1.3k games · White to move
MoveWhite / draw / BlackPlayedGamesScore
66%85739%
12%15654%
10%13457%
8.4%10953%
2.6%3454%
0.2%250%
0.1%10%
0.1%1100%
0.1%10%
Family
Italian Game
Category
Open
First move
1.e4
ECO
C57
Line
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. Ng5 d5 5. exd5 Nxd5 6. Nxf7 Kxf7 7. Qf3+ Ke6 8. Nc3 Nb4 9. Qe4 c6 10. a3 Na6 11. d4 Nc7
AggressiveClassical
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Nearby lines in the family
Italian Game: Two Knights Defense, Max Lange Attack, Rubinstein Variation4.d4 exd4 5.O-O Bc5 6.e5 d5 …Italian Game: Giuoco Piano, Krause Variation3…Bc5 4.c3 Nf6 5.d4 exd4 6.cxd4 …Italian Game: Evans Gambit, Steinitz Variation3…Bc5 4.b4 Bxb4 5.c3 Bc5 6.d4 …
From the archives

The Italian Game appears in the Göttingen manuscript (c. 1500) and in Polerio's notebooks — chess players have been putting the bishop on c4 for more than five hundred years. It fell out of top-level fashion for decades, then came back as White players went looking for a way round the Berlin Defence; Carlsen used the quiet Giuoco Pianissimo in the 2016 world-championship match.

Study this opening
Videos on YouTube ↗Wikipedia: Italian Game ↗