Piece Pattern Atlas
Italian Game
Where each piece lives in the middlegame that follows, drawn from 20,318 real games.
Its usual journeys
- g1–f36,347 games
- g1–f3–d42,849 games
- g1–f3–e51,851 games
- g1–f3–g51,548 games
When it leaves the board
Usually traded around move 11.
Survives past move 30 in 23% of games.
Most common end: d4, move 5 (556 games).
What its fate costs
Traded early (by move 8): White wins 54%. Kept: 51%. (n=4,046 / 16,272)
The choice
Move 3: Nf6 or Bc5?
Same opening, two futures for the g1-knight. Real games, side by side.
Nf6
After Nf6, the g1-knight spends 16% of the middlegame on g5; after Bc5, 5%. White scores 51% here (n=7,335).
Bc5
After Bc5, the g1-knight spends 65% of the middlegame on f3; after Nf6, 43%. White scores 50% here (n=6,260).