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
34%84243%
24%60049%
17%43347%
15%36844%
4.9%12245%
3.1%7842%
1%2438%
0.5%1229%
0.4%1155%
0.2%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
- 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 →Keep exploring
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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