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
51%19550%
28%10551%
18%6749%
1.3%560%
1%475%
0.8%367%
0.5%250%
Famous games in this line2 master games
Nunn, John DM (2600) – Nikolic, Predrag (2565)1985½–½Ernst, Thomas (2436) – Kinnmark, Ove (2365)20021–0
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 →
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Nearby lines in the family
Italian Game: Giuoco Piano, Krause Variation3…Bc5 4.c3 Nf6 5.d4 exd4 6.cxd4 …Italian Game: Evans Gambit Declined, Pavlov Variation3…Bc5 4.b4 Bb6 5.b5 Na5 6.Nxe5 …Italian Game: Classical Variation, Greco Gambit, Moeller-Bayonet Attack3…Bc5 4.c3 Nf6 5.d4 exd4 6.cxd4 …
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 ↗