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 Line5.Bxf7 · 1 deeper lineItalian Game: Two Knights Defense, Traxler Counterattack, Knight Sacrifice Line5.Nxf7 · 1 deeper lineItalian Game: Two Knights Defense, Traxler Variation, Trencianske-Teplice Gambit5.Bxf7 Ke7 6.d4Italian Game: Two Knights Defense, Traxler Counterattack, King March Line5.Nxf7 Bxf2 6.Kxf2 Nxe4 7.Ke3
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