C59 · Open · a plan for White
Italian Game: Two Knights Defense, Polerio Defense, Suhle Defense
16/16
1.e4e52.Nf3Nc63.Bc4Nf64.Ng5d55.exd5Na56.Bb5+c67.dxc6bxc68.Be2h6
Live databaseLichess 1600–2000 · blitz + rapid
Italian Game: Two Knights Defense, Polerio Defense, Suhle Defense411k games · White to move
MoveWhite / draw / BlackPlayedGamesScore
88%360k47%
0.7%2.9k37%
0.3%1.4k20%
0.1%25431%
0.1%22616%
0%16818%
0%14424%
0%6028%
0%5122%
Famous games in this line739 master games
Aronian, L. (2772) – Ding Liren (2801)Aronian, L. (2772) – Ding Liren (2799)Aronian, L.. (2781) – Giri, A.. (2780)Duda, J.. (2729) – Ding Liren (2799)Aronian, L. (2775) – Tari, A. (2672)Ivanchuk, Vassily (2740) – Beliavsky, Alexander G (2690)Aronian, L. (2775) – Kamsky, G. (2655)Kasparov, Garry (2805) – Timman, Jan H (2620)Heroes of this opening Aronian, L. · Ding Liren · Kasparov, Garry
- Family
- Italian Game
- Category
- Open
- First move
- 1.e4
- ECO
- C59
- Line
- 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. Ng5 d5 5. exd5 Na5 6. Bb5+ c6 7. dxc6 bxc6 8. Be2 h6
Classical
★ Read the guide: Italian GameExplore all 184 Italian Game lines →Keep exploring
Go deeper — named lines from here
Italian Game: Two Knights Defense, Steinitz VariationC59 9.Nh3Italian Game: Two Knights Defense, Polerio Defense, Göring VariationC59 9.Nf3 e4 10.Ne5 Qc7Italian Game: Two Knights Defense, Knorre VariationC59 9.Nf3 e4 10.Ne5 Bd6 11.d4 Qc7 …
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