Italian Game: Two Knights Defense, Max Lange Attack, Krause Variation
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. d4 exd4 5. O-O Bc5 6. e5 Ng4 7. c3
The Italian Game: Two Knights Defense, Max Lange Attack, Krause Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO C56, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. d4 exd4 5. O-O Bc5 6. e5 Ng4 7. c3. It is a line of the Italian Game. Black is to move.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 12 times by this move order. White won 83%, 0% were drawn and Black won 17%. The most popular continuation is 7… dxc3 (50% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.25 (Stockfish, depth 42; best line 7… d5 8. Bb5 dxc3 9. h3 cxb2 10. Bxb2)
- ECO
- C56
- Moves
- 13 plies
- FEN
r1bqk2r/pppp1ppp/2n5/2b1P3/2Bp2n1/2P2N2/PP3PPP/RNBQ1RK1 b kq - 0 7- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. d4 exd4 5. O-O Bc5 6. e5 Ng4 7. c3
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 6 | |
| 1500-1999 | 6 | |
| All | 12 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 7… dxc3 | 6 (50%) | |
| 7… Ngxe5 | 4 (33%) | |
| 7… O-O | 2 (17%) |
Highest-rated Lichess games
- le_matteur_anonyme (1710) – OhmyGod-thanks (1773) 0-1 · 2026-09-04 · 600 + 0s
- elgranpituso (1692) – Antonis (1624) 1-0 · 2026-09-06 · 300 + 3s
- Rob1430 (1660) – igalkap (1627) 1-0 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 2s
Comes from
Italian Game: Scotch Gambit 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. d4 exd4 5. O-O
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.