Italian Game: Two Knights Defense, Maróczy Variation
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. Ng5 d5 5. exd5 Na5 6. d3 h6 7. Nf3 e4 8. Qe2 Nxc4 9. dxc4 Be7
The Italian Game: Two Knights Defense, Maróczy 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. d3 h6 7. Nf3 e4 8. Qe2 Nxc4 9. dxc4 Be7. 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 3 times by this move order. White won 100%, 0% were drawn and Black won 0%. The most popular continuation is 10. Nd4 (67% of games).
Engine evaluation: 0.00 (Stockfish, depth 31; best line 10. Nd4 c6 11. Nc3 cxd5 12. Nxd5 Nxd5)
- ECO
- C58
- Moves
- 18 plies
- FEN
r1bqk2r/ppp1bpp1/5n1p/3P4/2P1p3/5N2/PPP1QPPP/RNB1K2R w KQkq - 1 10- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. Ng5 d5 5. exd5 Na5 6. d3 h6 7. Nf3 e4 8. Qe2 Nxc4 9. dxc4 Be7
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 1500-1999 | 1 | |
| 2000+ | 2 | |
| All | 3 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 10. Nd4 | 2 (67%) | |
| 10. Nfd2 | 1 (33%) |
Master games
5 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 40%, draw 0%, Black 60%). The strongest:
- FM Alexey Lizlov (2304) – IM Abdimalik Abdisalimov (2392) 1-0 · Titled Tuesday 27th Apr · 2021-04-27
- FM Georgios Ketzetzis (2277) – FM Maksym Pankiv (2302) 0-1 · Titled Tue 23rd Jun 2026 · 2026-06-23
- Destynn Keuchel (1849) – CM Ahmed Kandil (2201) 0-1 · Titled Tue 9th Jan Late · 2024-01-09
- Arie Van Diermen (1932) – Deon Lee (2063) 0-1 · Brasschaat Open 2015 · 2015-08-19
- Remy Bonnaud (2197) – Ismael Amghar (1771) 1-0 · 28th Avoine Open · 2013-07-22
Search all games of the Italian Game: Two Knights Defense, Maróczy Variation and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- Tsibisov (2182) – uln1 (2154) 1-0 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 2s
- dong0819 (2071) – laupl (2017) 1-0 · 2026-09-06 · 600 + 0s
- Joseja50 (1818) – moahammed_asaad (1842) 1-0 · 2026-09-06 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Italian Game: Two Knights Defense, Polerio Defense, Kieseritzky Variation 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. Ng5 d5 5. exd5 Na5 6. d3
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.