Open · a plan for White
Italian Game: Two Knights Defense, Perreux Variation
9/9
1.e4e52.Nf3Nc63.Bc4Nf64.d4exd45.Ng5
Live databaseLichess 1600–2000 · blitz + rapid
Italian Game: Two Knights Defense, Perreux Variation418k games · Black to move
MoveWhite / draw / BlackPlayedGamesScore
69%289k46%
25%104k45%
2.6%11k43%
1.1%4.4k35%
0.8%3.2k36%
0.6%2.5k34%
0.3%1.1k25%
0.3%1.1k12%
0.2%92119%
0.1%35024%
Famous games in this line115 master games
Tomczak, J. (2588) – Bartel, Mat (2609)Brandenburg, Daan (2535) – Smeets, Jan (2647)Tomczak, J. (2588) – Buhmann, R. (2584)Watson, William N (2525) – Adams, Michael (2615)Piscopo, P. (2399) – Fressinet, L. (2668)Lagno, Kateryna (2515) – Goryachkina, A. (2546)Brandenburg, Daan (2481) – Werle, Jan (2565)Llaneza Vega, Marcos (2425) – Mastrovasilis, Dimitrios (2580)Heroes of this opening Tomczak, J. · Brandenburg, Daan · Adams, Michael · Fressinet, L.
- Family
- Italian Game
- Category
- Open
- First move
- 1.e4
- ECO
- C56
- Line
- 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. d4 exd4 5. Ng5
Classical
★ Read the guide: Italian GameExplore all 184 Italian Game lines →Keep exploring
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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.
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