Italian Game: Hungarian Defense, Tartakower Variation
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Be7 4. d4 exd4 5. c3 Nf6 6. e5 Ne4
The Italian Game: Hungarian Defense, Tartakower Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO C50, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Be7 4. d4 exd4 5. c3 Nf6 6. e5 Ne4. It is a line of the Italian Game. White is to move.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 33 times by this move order. White won 48%, 7% were drawn and Black won 45%. The most popular continuation is 7. cxd4 (67% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.74 (Stockfish, depth 36; best line 7. Bd5 f5 8. O-O d6 9. cxd4 dxe5)
- ECO
- C50
- Moves
- 12 plies
- FEN
r1bqk2r/ppppbppp/2n5/4P3/2Bpn3/2P2N2/PP3PPP/RNBQK2R w KQkq - 1 7- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Be7 4. d4 exd4 5. c3 Nf6 6. e5 Ne4
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 1 | |
| 1500-1999 | 14 | |
| 2000+ | 18 | |
| All | 33 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 7. cxd4 | 22 (67%) | |
| 7. Bd5 | 6 (18%) | |
| 7. O-O | 3 (9%) | |
| 7. Qc2 | 1 (3%) | |
| 7. Nbd2 | 1 (3%) |
Master games
17 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 71%, draw 11%, Black 18%). The strongest:
- FM Tommi Luukkonen (2237) – GM Eduardas Rozentalis (2476) 0-1 · VIII ShakkiNet GM 2024 · 2024-06-11
- FM David Fitzsimons (2337) – FM Jonathan W Rogers (2340) 1-0 · 4NCL 2017-18 · 2018-02-10
- FM Luis Eduardo Ballester Llagaria (2298) – IM Jonathan Cruz (2328) 1-0 · Titled Tue 27th Jun Late · 2023-06-27
- Dusan Radovanovic (2387) – Goran Bura (2209) 1-0 · ch-Central Serbia 2013 · 2013-02-19
- GM Thal Abergel (2440) – Manuel Rogelio Quidiello Prado (2131) 1-0 · 33rd Andorra Open 2015 · 2015-07-19
Search all games of the Italian Game: Hungarian Defense, Tartakower Variation and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- Js6464 (2325) – Merkury2022 (2305) 1/2-1/2 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 0s
- canibalchess (2242) – Moral_Turpitude (2182) 1-0 · 2026-09-04 · 600 + 0s
- Katzenkracker (2285) – Abuomar2021 (2140) 1-0 · 2026-09-03 · 600 + 0s
Comes from
Scotch Game: Benima Defense 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Be7 4. d4 exd4
More Italian Game lines (all)
- Italian Game C50
- Italian Game: Anti-Fried Liver Defense C50
- Italian Game: Blackburne-Kostić Gambit C50
- Italian Game: Classical Variation, Albin Gambit C50
- Italian Game: Deutz Gambit C50
- Italian Game: Giuoco Pianissimo (3… Bc5 4. d3) C50
- Italian Game: Giuoco Pianissimo (5… d6 6. d3) C50
- Italian Game: Giuoco Pianissimo (5. O-O O-O) C50
- Italian Game: Giuoco Pianissimo (5… O-O 6. d3) C50
- Italian Game: Giuoco Pianissimo, Canal Variation C50
- Italian Game: Giuoco Pianissimo, Dubois Variation C50
- Italian Game: Giuoco Pianissimo, Italian Four Knights Variation C50
Opening names and moves from the Lichess openings dataset; statistics from the Lichess open database, 2026-09 (CC0), sample of 12.6 million games, bots excluded; evaluations from Lichess cloud analysis (all CC0). Master games from The Week in Chess #920–#1664 by Mark Crowther, used with permission.