Open · a plan for White
Italian Game: Two Knights Defense, Knight Attack
7/7
1.e4e52.Nf3Nc63.Bc4Nf64.Ng5
Live databaseLichess 1600–2000 · blitz + rapid
Italian Game: Two Knights Defense, Knight Attack9.4M games · Black to move
MoveWhite / draw / BlackPlayedGamesScore
0.5%43k20%
0.3%28k22%
0.2%22k30%
0.2%22k9%
0.2%19k12%
0.1%12k28%
0.1%4.9k9%
Famous games in this line3.5k master games
So, W.. (2770) – Carlsen, M.. (2862)Firouzja, Alireza (2767) – Carlsen, M. (2832)Aronian, L. (2772) – Caruana, F. (2822)Gukesh, D. (2764) – Carlsen, M. (2830)Aronian, L. (2772) – Ding Liren (2801)Firouzja, Alireza (2777) – Caruana, F. (2795)Aronian, L. (2772) – Ding Liren (2799)Aronian, L. (2765) – Ding Liren (2805)Heroes of this opening Aronian, L. · Carlsen, M.. · Firouzja, Alireza · Caruana, F.
- Family
- Italian Game
- Category
- Open
- First move
- 1.e4
- ECO
- C57
- Line
- 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. Ng5
AggressiveClassical
★ Read the guide: Italian GameExplore all 184 Italian Game lines →Keep exploring
Go deeper — named lines from here
Italian Game: Two Knights Defense, Traxler Counterattack4…Bc5 · 4 deeper linesItalian Game: Two Knights Defense, Ponziani-Steinitz Gambit4…Nxe4Italian Game: Two Knights Defense, Knight Attack, Normal Variation4…d5 · 22 deeper linesItalian Game: Two Knights Defense, Traxler Counterattack, Bishop Sacrifice Line4…Bc5 5.Bxf7 · 1 deeper line
Nearby lines in the family
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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