Open · a plan for White
Italian Game: Two Knights Defense, Max Lange Attack, Berger Variation
26/26
1.e4e52.Nf3Nc63.Bc4Nf64.d4exd45.O-OBc56.e5d57.exf6dxc48.Re1+Be69.Ng5Qd510.Nc3Qf511.g4Qg612.Nce4Bb613.f4O-O-O
Live databaseLichess 1600–2000 · blitz + rapid
Italian Game: Two Knights Defense, Max Lange Attack, Berger Variation574 games · White to move
MoveWhite / draw / BlackPlayedGamesScore
97%55548%
1.2%736%
0.9%540%
0.7%40%
0.2%10%
0.2%10%
0.2%10%
Famous games in this line1 master games
Corbin, Philip (2255) – Asabri, Hussien (2326)- 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. O-O Bc5 6. e5 d5 7. exf6 dxc4 8. Re1+ Be6 9. Ng5 Qd5 10. Nc3 Qf5 11. g4 Qg6 12. Nce4 Bb6 13. f4 O-O-O
SharpAggressiveClassical
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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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