C58 · Open · a plan for White
Italian Game: Two Knights Defense, Polerio Defense
10/10
1.e4e52.Nf3Nc63.Bc4Nf64.Ng5d55.exd5Na5
Live databaseLichess 1600–2000 · blitz + rapid
Italian Game: Two Knights Defense, Polerio Defense4.2M games · White to move
MoveWhite / draw / BlackPlayedGamesScore
3.7%156k46%
2.7%113k41%
1%43k44%
0.8%33k45%
0.6%25k38%
0.5%20k28%
0.1%4.6k39%
0%1.8k41%
Famous games in this line2.9k master games
So, W.. (2770) – Carlsen, M.. (2862)Aronian, L. (2772) – Caruana, F. (2822)Aronian, L. (2772) – Ding Liren (2801)Firouzja, Alireza (2777) – Caruana, F. (2795)Aronian, L. (2772) – Ding Liren (2799)Aronian, L. (2765) – Ding Liren (2805)Aronian, L.. (2781) – Giri, A.. (2780)Erigaisi, Arjun (2775) – Keymer, Vincent (2776)Heroes of this opening Aronian, L. · Carlsen, M.. · Caruana, F. · Erigaisi, Arjun
- 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
Classical
★ Read the guide: Italian GameExplore all 184 Italian Game lines →Keep exploring
Go deeper — named lines from here
Italian Game: Two Knights Defense, Polerio Defense, Bishop Check LineC58 6.Bb5 · 8 deeper linesItalian Game: Two Knights Defense, Polerio Defense, Kieseritzky VariationC58 6.d3 · 2 deeper linesItalian Game: Two Knights Defense, Polerio Defense, Bogoljubow VariationC58 6.Bb5 c6 7.dxc6 bxc6 8.Qf3 · 3 deeper linesItalian Game: Two Knights Defense, Colman VariationC58 6.Bb5 c6 7.dxc6 bxc6 8.Qf3 Rb8
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.
Study this opening