Open · a plan for White

Italian Game: Two Knights Defense, Max Lange Attack, Krause Variation

13/13
1.e4e52.Nf3Nc63.Bc4Nf64.d4exd45.O-OBc56.e5Ng47.c3
Live databaseLichess 1600–2000 · blitz + rapid
Italian Game: Two Knights Defense, Max Lange Attack, Krause Variation47k games · Black to move
MoveWhite / draw / BlackPlayedGamesScore
46%21k33%
28%13k41%
15%6.9k34%
5.2%2.5k49%
2.1%96750%
1.7%78943%
1.6%75733%
0.4%19832%
0.4%19240%
0.1%6538%
Famous games in this line1 master games
Volovikov, Anton (2324) – Budnikov, Oleg (2442)20110–1
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 Ng4 7. c3
SharpAggressiveClassical
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Nearby lines in the family
Italian Game: Giuoco Piano, Greco's Attack3…Bc5 4.c3 Nf6 5.d4 exd4 6.cxd4 …Italian Game: Giuoco Piano, Cracow Variation3…Bc5 4.c3 Nf6 5.d4 exd4 6.cxd4 …Italian Game: Scotch Gambit, Canal Variation3.d4 exd4 4.Bc4 Nf6 5.O-O Nxe4 …
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 ↗