C57 · Open · a plan for White
Italian Game: Two Knights Defense, Traxler Counterattack
8/8
1.e4e52.Nf3Nc63.Bc4Nf64.Ng5Bc5
Live databaseLichess 1600–2000 · blitz + rapid
Italian Game: Two Knights Defense, Traxler Counterattack1.2M games · White to move
MoveWhite / draw / BlackPlayedGamesScore
7.6%95k47%
1.2%15k55%
1.1%14k46%
0.9%11k48%
0.6%7.1k49%
0.3%3.5k45%
0.1%1.2k36%
0.1%64943%
Famous games in this line130 master games
Karpov, Anatoly (2710) – Beliavsky, Alexander G (2570)Anand, Viswanathan (2635) – Beliavsky, Alexander G (2640)Gharamian, Tigran (2658) – Goldsztejn, Gildas (2435)Asrian, Karen (2634) – Minasian, Ara (2457)Efimov, Igor (2470) – Shirov, Alexei (2615)Shabalov, Alexander (2565) – Ivanov, Igor V (2475)Ninov, Nikolai (2515) – Marzolo, Cyril (2487)Saglione, Eduardo (2547) – Moreno Carretero, Carlos (2450)Heroes of this opening Beliavsky, Alexander G · Gharamian, Tigran · Asrian, Karen · Shirov, Alexei
- Family
- Italian Game
- Category
- Open
- First move
- 1.e4
- ECO
- C57
- Line
- 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. Ng5 Bc5
SharpAggressiveClassical
★ Read the guide: Italian GameExplore all 184 Italian Game lines →Keep exploring
Go deeper — named lines from here
Italian Game: Two Knights Defense, Traxler Counterattack, Bishop Sacrifice LineC57 5.Bxf7 · 1 deeper lineItalian Game: Two Knights Defense, Traxler Counterattack, Knight Sacrifice LineC57 5.Nxf7 · 1 deeper lineItalian Game: Two Knights Defense, Traxler Variation, Trencianske-Teplice GambitC57 5.Bxf7 Ke7 6.d4Italian Game: Two Knights Defense, Traxler Counterattack, King March LineC57 5.Nxf7 Bxf2 6.Kxf2 Nxe4 7.Ke3
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