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 Line6.Bb5 · 8 deeper linesItalian Game: Two Knights Defense, Polerio Defense, Kieseritzky Variation6.d3 · 2 deeper linesItalian Game: Two Knights Defense, Polerio Defense, Bogoljubow Variation6.Bb5 c6 7.dxc6 bxc6 8.Qf3 · 3 deeper linesItalian Game: Two Knights Defense, Colman Variation6.Bb5 c6 7.dxc6 bxc6 8.Qf3 Rb8
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.
Study this opening