Open · a plan for White

Italian Game: Two Knights Defense, Pincus Variation

12/12
1.e4e52.Nf3Nc63.Bc4Nf64.Ng5d55.exd5Nxd56.d4Bb4+
Live databaseLichess 1600–2000 · blitz + rapid
Italian Game: Two Knights Defense, Pincus Variation1.6k games · White to move
MoveWhite / draw / BlackPlayedGamesScore
97%1.6k67%
1.9%3148%
1%1622%
0.1%10%
Famous games in this line2 master games
Petrov, Martin (2472) – Sulskis, S. (2529)2019½–½Novitzkij, Dmitrij (2284) – Zaitsev, Igor A (2420)19990–1
Family
Italian Game
Category
Open
First move
1.e4
ECO
C57
Line
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. Ng5 d5 5. exd5 Nxd5 6. d4 Bb4+
Classical
★ Read the guide: Italian GameExplore all 184 Italian Game lines →
Keep exploring
Nearby lines in the family
Italian Game: Evans Gambit, Pierce Defense3…Bc5 4.b4 Bxb4 5.c3 Ba5 6.d4 …Italian Game: Evans Gambit, Bronstein Defense3…Bc5 4.b4 Bxb4 5.c3 Ba5 6.d4 …Italian Game: Evans Gambit, Laroche Variation3…Bc5 4.b4 Bxb4 5.c3 Ba5 6.d4 …
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
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