Italian Game: Two Knights Defense, Fritz Variation
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. Ng5 d5 5. exd5 Nd4
The Italian Game: Two Knights Defense, Fritz Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO C57, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. Ng5 d5 5. exd5 Nd4. It is a line of the Italian Game. White is to move. 1 named line continues from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 4,961 times by this move order. White won 42%, 3% were drawn and Black won 55%. The most popular continuation is 6. c3 (45% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.47 (Stockfish, depth 55; best line 6. c3 b5 7. Bf1 Nxd5 8. cxd4 Qxg5)
- ECO
- C57
- Moves
- 10 plies
- FEN
r1bqkb1r/ppp2ppp/5n2/3Pp1N1/2Bn4/8/PPPP1PPP/RNBQK2R w KQkq - 1 6- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. Ng5 d5 5. exd5 Nd4
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 2,709 | |
| 1500-1999 | 1,911 | |
| 2000+ | 341 | |
| All | 4,961 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 6. c3 | 2,244 (45%) | |
| 6. d6 | 1,660 (33%) | |
| 6. O-O | 534 (11%) | |
| 6. d3 | 155 (3%) | |
| 6. Nc3 | 140 (3%) | |
| 6. Nxf7 | 127 (3%) | |
| 6. Nf3 | 30 (1%) | |
| 6. Bb5+ | 30 (1%) |
Master games
314 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 48%, draw 14%, Black 38%). The strongest:
- Stoofvlees II d9 (3541) – Reckless 0.10.0-dev-9057bc13 (3749) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 29 Gambit Bonus 2026 · 2026-05-30
- Reckless 0.10.0-dev-9057bc13 (3749) – Stoofvlees II d9 (3541) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 29 Gambit Bonus 2026 · 2026-05-30
- GM Jorge Cori (2651) – GM Jorden Van Foreest (2690) 1-0 · MrDodgy Inv 3 Finals · 2022-11-28
- GM Pranesh M (2538) – GM Alexander Grischuk (2728) 1-0 · Titled Tue 9th Apr Early · 2024-04-09
- GM Dmitrij Kollars (2644) – GM Jon Ludvig Hammer (2618) 1-0 · FIDE Grand Swiss 2025 · 2025-09-08
Search all games of the Italian Game: Two Knights Defense, Fritz Variation and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- RoryMcCann (2695) – hadishahod (2787) 0-1 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
- RoryMcCann (2686) – KM2200 (2530) 0-1 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
- FastCavalier (2576) – THE_NUCLI (2523) 1-0 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Italian Game: Two Knights Defense, Knight Attack, Normal Variation 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. Ng5 d5
Continuations
- Italian Game: Two Knights Defense, Fritz, Gruber Variation C57 · 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. Ng5 d5 5. exd5 Nd4 6. c3 b5 7. Bf1 Nxd5 8. Ne4
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.