Italian Game: Two Knights Defense, Kloss Gambit
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. Ng5 d5 5. exd5 Nb4
The Italian Game: Two Knights Defense, Kloss Gambit is a chess opening classified as ECO C57, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. Ng5 d5 5. exd5 Nb4. 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 148 times by this move order. White won 57%, 4% were drawn and Black won 39%. The most popular continuation is 6. d6 (55% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.58 (Stockfish, depth 58; best line 6. d6 Nbd5 7. dxc7 Qxc7 8. Bb5+ Bd7)
- ECO
- C57
- Moves
- 10 plies
- FEN
r1bqkb1r/ppp2ppp/5n2/3Pp1N1/1nB5/8/PPPP1PPP/RNBQK2R w KQkq - 1 6- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. Ng5 d5 5. exd5 Nb4
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 108 | |
| 1500-1999 | 36 | |
| 2000+ | 4 | |
| All | 148 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 6. d6 | 82 (55%) | |
| 6. Bb5+ | 12 (8%) | |
| 6. Nc3 | 11 (7%) | |
| 6. a3 | 11 (7%) | |
| 6. Nxf7 | 8 (5%) | |
| 6. c3 | 8 (5%) | |
| 6. O-O | 7 (5%) | |
| 6. Qf3 | 3 (2%) |
Master games
3 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 67%, draw 0%, Black 33%). The strongest:
- Jorge Huerto Moreno (1891) – Jose Manuel Tapia Sanchez (1713) 1-0 · 38th Collado Villalba Op · 2021-08-29
- Daniel Hanzlik (1767) – Tomas Hanzlik (1637) 1-0 · 8th Teplice Open 2013 · 2013-06-20
Search all games of the Italian Game: Two Knights Defense, Kloss Gambit and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- Ard_e (2170) – Erasmusrealaccount (2135) 1-0 · 2026-09-07 · 600 + 0s
- Sawka322 (2158) – Recke (1990) 1-0 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 0s
- Sawka322 (2164) – Recke (1984) 1-0 · 2026-09-07 · 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
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.