Italian Game: Two Knights Defense, Polerio Defense, Göring Variation
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. Ng5 d5 5. exd5 Na5 6. Bb5+ c6 7. dxc6 bxc6 8. Be2 h6 9. Nf3 e4 10. Ne5 Qc7
The Italian Game: Two Knights Defense, Polerio Defense, Göring Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO C59, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. Ng5 d5 5. exd5 Na5 6. Bb5+ c6 7. dxc6 bxc6 8. Be2 h6 9. Nf3 e4 10. Ne5 Qc7. 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 10 times by this move order. White won 30%, 10% were drawn and Black won 60%. The most popular continuation is 11. d4 (80% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.23 (Stockfish, depth 37; best line 11. d4 exd3 12. Nxd3 Bd6 13. b3 Bf5)
- ECO
- C59
- Moves
- 20 plies
- FEN
r1b1kb1r/p1q2pp1/2p2n1p/n3N3/4p3/8/PPPPBPPP/RNBQK2R w KQkq - 2 11- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. Ng5 d5 5. exd5 Na5 6. Bb5+ c6 7. dxc6 bxc6 8. Be2 h6 9. Nf3 e4 10. Ne5 Qc7
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 1500-1999 | 5 | |
| 2000+ | 5 | |
| All | 10 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 11. d4 | 8 (80%) | |
| 11. f4 | 1 (10%) | |
| 11. Ng4 | 1 (10%) |
Master games
10 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 50%, draw 20%, Black 30%). The strongest:
- WIM Olga Zhuravleva (2278) – IM Maxim Lavrov (2398) 1-0 · Titled Tuesday 16th Nov · 2021-11-16
- Michael R. W. Olsen (1967) – Kristian Eriksson (2093) 1/2-1/2 · Xtracon GM 2013 · 2013-10-15
- Divyabharathi Masanam (1730) – WIM S Dharia Parnali (2145) 1-0 · 46th ch-IND w 2019 · 2019-07-27
- WFM Anita, Dr. Just (1874) – WFM Anna-Luise Heymann-Lobzhanidze (1943) 1-0 · Frauenbundesliga 2019-20 · 2019-09-14
- Oleksii Rai (1856) – Anthony Fox (1939) 0-1 · 104th ch-IRL 2025 · 2025-08-07
Highest-rated Lichess games
- Edobus (2246) – babybird1963 (2273) 1/2-1/2 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
- Ekhymosis (2112) – DemOleg (1998) 1-0 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 0s
- vk37 (2097) – DemOleg (2003) 1-0 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Italian Game: Two Knights Defense, Polerio Defense, Suhle Defense 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. Ng5 d5 5. exd5 Na5 6. Bb5+ c6 7. dxc6 bxc6 8. Be2 h6
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.