Italian Game: Two Knights Defense, Colman Variation
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. Ng5 d5 5. exd5 Na5 6. Bb5+ c6 7. dxc6 bxc6 8. Qf3 Rb8
The Italian Game: Two Knights Defense, Colman Variation 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. Qf3 Rb8. 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 144 times by this move order. White won 51%, 5% were drawn and Black won 44%. The most popular continuation is 9. Bxc6+ (58% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.16 (Stockfish, depth 46; best line 9. Be2 Be7 10. Ne4 Nxe4 11. Qxe4 O-O)
- ECO
- C58
- Moves
- 16 plies
- FEN
1rbqkb1r/p4ppp/2p2n2/nB2p1N1/8/5Q2/PPPP1PPP/RNB1K2R w KQk - 2 9- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. Ng5 d5 5. exd5 Na5 6. Bb5+ c6 7. dxc6 bxc6 8. Qf3 Rb8
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 9 | |
| 1500-1999 | 73 | |
| 2000+ | 62 | |
| All | 144 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 9. Bxc6+ | 83 (58%) | |
| 9. Ba4 | 29 (20%) | |
| 9. Bd3 | 27 (19%) | |
| 9. Be2 | 4 (3%) | |
| 9. Bf1 | 1 (1%) |
Master games
138 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 45%, draw 14%, Black 41%). The strongest:
- GM Erigaisi Arjun (2775) – GM Vincent Keymer (2776) 1-0 · TechM GCL 2025 · 2025-12-20
- GM Surya Shekhar Ganguly (2614) – GM Bassem Amin (2627) 1/2-1/2 · 21st Abu Dhabi Masters 2014 · 2014-08-27
- GM Aleksei Pridorozhni (2533) – GM Pavel Ponkratov (2624) 0-1 · 10th Ugra Governor's Cup · 2014-11-06
- IM Bogdan Belyakov (2486) – GM Alexandr Predke (2601) 1-0 · TCh-RUS Blitz 2017 · 2017-10-05
- GM Pranesh M (2505) – GM V Pranav (2579) 0-1 · Titled Tue 12th Sep Early · 2023-09-12
Search all games of the Italian Game: Two Knights Defense, Colman Variation and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- QVC64 (2476) – RubinsteinZR (2406) 0-1 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 2s
- VeryStarLasker (2420) – PureDomination (2350) 1-0 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 2s
- Mr_Rare_Species (2374) – danil00 (2335) 1-0 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Italian Game: Two Knights Defense, Polerio Defense, Bogoljubow Variation 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. Ng5 d5 5. exd5 Na5 6. Bb5+ c6 7. dxc6 bxc6 8. Qf3
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.