C58 · Open · a plan for White
Italian Game: Two Knights Defense, Paoli Variation
17/17
1.e4e52.Nf3Nc63.Bc4Nf64.Ng5d55.exd5Na56.Bb5+c67.dxc6bxc68.Qf3Qc79.Bd3
Live databaseLichess 1600–2000 · blitz + rapid
Italian Game: Two Knights Defense, Paoli Variation2.5k games · Black to move
MoveWhite / draw / BlackPlayedGamesScore
h634%84243%
Be724%60049%
Bd617%43347%
Bg415%36844%
Bb74.9%12245%
Bc53.1%7842%
Nd51%2438%
Rb80.5%1229%
Nb70.4%1155%
Bd70.2%617%
Famous games in this line15 master games
Karjakin, Sergey (2645) – Socko, Bartosz (2615)Kurnosov, Igor (2523) – Tomashevsky, Evgeny (2564)Van der Wiel, John (2465) – Beliavsky, Alexander G (2590)Van der Wiel, John (2465) – Gligoric, Svetozar (2565)Nurkiewicz, M. (2392) – Beliavsky, A. (2631)Pruess, David (2424) – Yermolinsky, Alex (2517)Grekh, Andrey (2391) – Vovk, Andrey (2488)Filipchenko, Vladimir Mikhailovi (2363) – Moreira, José Américo Paiva (2415)Heroes of this opening Van der Wiel, John · Yermolinsky, Alex · Vovk, Andrey · Filipchenko, Vladimir Mikhailovi
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
- C58
- Line
- 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. Ng5 d5 5. exd5 Na5 6. Bb5+ c6 7. dxc6 bxc6 8. Qf3 Qc7 9. Bd3
Classical
★ Read the guide: Italian GameExplore all 184 Italian Game lines →Study this opening elsewhere