C57 · Open · a plan for White
Italian Game: Two Knights Defense, Traxler Counterattack, King March Line
13/13
1.e4e52.Nf3Nc63.Bc4Nf64.Ng5Bc55.Nxf7Bxf2+6.Kxf2Nxe4+7.Ke3
Live databaseLichess 1600–2000 · blitz + rapid
Italian Game: Two Knights Defense, Traxler Counterattack, King March Line57k games · Black to move
MoveWhite / draw / BlackPlayedGamesScore
87%50k64%
6.9%4.0k46%
3%1.7k62%
2.3%1.3k14%
0.6%32417%
0.1%4433%
0.1%4314%
0.1%417%
0%287%
0%195%
Famous games in this line1 master games
Johnstone, Glenn (2300) – Finegold, Benjamin (2490)- Family
- Italian Game
- Category
- Open
- First move
- 1.e4
- ECO
- C57
- Line
- 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. Ng5 Bc5 5. Nxf7 Bxf2+ 6. Kxf2 Nxe4+ 7. Ke3
SharpAggressiveClassical
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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