Italian Game: Two Knights Defense (7… bxc6 8. Be2)
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. Ng5 d5 5. exd5 Na5 6. Bb5+ c6 7. dxc6 bxc6 8. Be2
The Italian Game: Two Knights Defense is a chess opening classified as ECO C58, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. Ng5 d5 5. exd5 Na5 6. Bb5+ c6 7. dxc6 bxc6 8. Be2. It is a line of the Italian Game. Black is to move. 1 named line continues from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 1,509 times by this move order. White won 49%, 4% were drawn and Black won 47%. The most popular continuation is 8… h6 (64% of games).
Engine evaluation: −0.05 (Stockfish, depth 60; best line 8… h6 9. Nf3 e4 10. Ne5 Bd6 11. d4)
- ECO
- C58
- Moves
- 15 plies
- FEN
r1bqkb1r/p4ppp/2p2n2/n3p1N1/8/8/PPPPBPPP/RNBQK2R b KQkq - 1 8- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. Ng5 d5 5. exd5 Na5 6. Bb5+ c6 7. dxc6 bxc6 8. Be2
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 329 | |
| 1500-1999 | 901 | |
| 2000+ | 279 | |
| All | 1,509 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 8… h6 Two Knights Defense, Polerio Defense, Suhle Defense | 964 (64%) | |
| 8… Bc5 | 150 (10%) | |
| 8… Nd5 | 132 (9%) | |
| 8… Be7 | 122 (8%) | |
| 8… Bd6 | 57 (4%) | |
| 8… e4 | 14 (1%) | |
| 8… Qd5 | 14 (1%) | |
| 8… Bb7 | 11 (1%) |
Master games
52 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 52%, draw 10%, Black 38%). The strongest:
- IM Robert Piliposyan (2415) – GM Alireza Firouzja (2766) 1/2-1/2 · Titled Tue 15th Jul Late · 2025-07-15
- GM Aryan Chopra (2585) – GM Lalith, B. (2563) 0-1 · 58th ch-IND 2022 · 2022-02-27
- FM Petr Cerveny (2333) – IM Zhansaya Abdumalik (2458) 0-1 · 30th Czech Open A 2019 · 2019-07-26
- WIM Olga Zhuravleva (2278) – FM Harry Grieve (2351) 0-1 · Titled Tuesday 20th Oct · 2020-10-20
- CM Viacheslav Tikhonov (2160) – FM Egor Bykov (2430) 1/2-1/2 · Titled Tue 20th Aug Late · 2024-08-20
Search all games of the Italian Game: Two Knights Defense and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- FM uhlmannfan (2578) – whatthesigmaisthis (2560) 1-0 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
- FM GeNer4tion_KiLL (2622) – sigssh (2395) 1-0 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 2s
- Nguoihatrong (2482) – WangMuyuan123 (2482) 1-0 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Italian Game: Two Knights Defense, Polerio Defense, Bishop Check Line 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. Ng5 d5 5. exd5 Na5 6. Bb5+
Continuations
- Italian Game: Two Knights Defense, Polerio Defense, Suhle Defense C59 · 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. Ng5 d5 5. exd5 Na5 6. Bb5+ c6 7. dxc6 bxc6 8. Be2 h6
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.