C55 · Open · a plan for White
Italian Game: Two Knights Defense, Modern Bishop's Opening
7/7
1.e4e52.Nf3Nc63.Bc4Nf64.d3
Live databaseLichess 1600–2000 · blitz + rapid
Italian Game: Two Knights Defense, Modern Bishop's Opening10.9M games · Black to move
MoveWhite / draw / BlackPlayedGamesScore
15%1.6M47%
8.1%889k47%
5.7%626k45%
1.5%166k43%
0.8%92k45%
0.7%74k42%
0.3%31k42%
0.2%24k41%
Famous games in this line18k master games
Kramnik, Vladimir (2812) – Carlsen, M. (2855)Kramnik, V. (2808) – Carlsen, M. (2832)Giri, A. (2782) – Carlsen, M. (2855)Nepomniachtchi, I. (2782) – Carlsen, M. (2855)Carlsen, M. (2833) – Nakamura, Hi (2802)Caruana, F. (2805) – Carlsen, M. (2830)Carlsen, M. (2833) – Erigaisi, Arjun (2801)Carlsen, M.. (2862) – So, W.. (2770)Heroes of this opening Carlsen, M.
- Family
- Italian Game
- Category
- Open
- First move
- 1.e4
- ECO
- C55
- Line
- 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. d3
Classical
★ Read the guide: Italian GameExplore all 184 Italian Game lines →Keep exploring
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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.
Study this opening