C58 · Open · a plan for White
Italian Game: Two Knights Defense, Polerio Defense, Bishop Check Line
11/11
1.e4e52.Nf3Nc63.Bc4Nf64.Ng5d55.exd5Na56.Bb5+
Live databaseLichess 1600–2000 · blitz + rapid
Italian Game: Two Knights Defense, Polerio Defense, Bishop Check Line3.5M games · Black to move
MoveWhite / draw / BlackPlayedGamesScore
86%3.0M50%
14%499k50%
0.3%9.3k48%
0%52110%
0%3525%
0%15834%
Famous games in this line2.8k 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 6. Bb5+
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, Bogoljubow VariationC58 6…c6 7.dxc6 bxc6 8.Qf3 · 3 deeper linesItalian Game: Two Knights Defense, Colman VariationC58 6…c6 7.dxc6 bxc6 8.Qf3 Rb8Italian Game: Two Knights Defense, Blackburne VariationC58 6…c6 7.dxc6 bxc6 8.Qf3 cxb5Italian Game: Two Knights Defense, Polerio Defense, Suhle DefenseC59 6…c6 7.dxc6 bxc6 8.Be2 h6 · 3 deeper lines
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