C59 · Open · a plan for White
Italian Game: Two Knights Defense, Knorre Variation
23/23
1.e4e52.Nf3Nc63.Bc4Nf64.Ng5d55.exd5Na56.Bb5+c67.dxc6bxc68.Be2h69.Nf3e410.Ne5Bd611.d4Qc712.Bd2
Live databaseLichess 1600–2000 · blitz + rapid
Italian Game: Two Knights Defense, Knorre Variation381 games · Black to move
MoveWhite / draw / BlackPlayedGamesScore
Bxe551%19550%
Nb728%10551%
O-O18%6749%
c51.3%560%
Rb81%475%
Bb70.8%367%
Bf50.5%250%
Famous games in this line2 master games
Nunn, John DM (2600) – Nikolic, Predrag (2565)Ernst, Thomas (2436) – Kinnmark, Ove (2365)Keep exploring
Nearby lines in the family
From the archives
The Italian Game is in the Göttingen manuscript and Polerio's notebooks — chess players have been putting the bishop on c4 for more than four centuries. It fell out of top-level fashion for decades, then returned as a main weapon of Carlsen and Caruana, proving the oldest plans still bite.
- Family
- Italian Game
- Category
- Open
- First move
- 1.e4
- ECO
- C59
- Line
- 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. Ng5 d5 5. exd5 Na5 6. Bb5+ c6 7. dxc6 bxc6 8. Be2 h6 9. Nf3 e4 10. Ne5 Bd6 11. d4 Qc7 12. Bd2
Classical
★ Read the guide: Italian GameExplore all 184 Italian Game lines →Study this opening elsewhere