Italian Game: Two Knights Defense, Keidansky Variation
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. d4 exd4 5. e5 d5 6. Bb5 Ne4 7. Nxd4 Bc5 8. Nxc6 Bxf2+ 9. Kf1 Qh4
The Italian Game: Two Knights Defense, Keidansky Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO C56, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. d4 exd4 5. e5 d5 6. Bb5 Ne4 7. Nxd4 Bc5 8. Nxc6 Bxf2+ 9. Kf1 Qh4. 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 1 times by this move order. White won 0%, 0% were drawn and Black won 100%. The most popular continuation is 10. Qf3 (100% of games).
Engine evaluation: 0.00 (Stockfish, depth 44; best line 10. Nxa7+ c6 11. Nxc8 Rxc8 12. Be2 Ba7)
- ECO
- C56
- Moves
- 18 plies
- FEN
r1b1k2r/ppp2ppp/2N5/1B1pP3/4n2q/8/PPP2bPP/RNBQ1K1R w kq - 2 10- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. d4 exd4 5. e5 d5 6. Bb5 Ne4 7. Nxd4 Bc5 8. Nxc6 Bxf2+ 9. Kf1 Qh4
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 1 | |
| All | 1 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 10. Qf3 | 1 (100%) |
Master games
1 over-the-board game is classified under this line (White 100%, draw 0%, Black 0%). The strongest:
- FM Cristian Silva Lucena (2343) – Eduardo Gerbelli Neto (2114) 1-0 · Titled Tue 7th Nov Late · 2023-11-07
Highest-rated Lichess games
- hop-man (1500) – MBK7BK (966) 0-1 · 2026-09-04 · 300 + 0s
Comes from
Italian Game: Scotch Gambit, Max Lange Attack (6. Bb5 Ne4) 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. d4 exd4 5. e5 d5 6. Bb5 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.