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
The Italian Game: Two Knights Defense, Polerio Defense, Kieseritzky 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. It is a line of the Italian Game. Black is to move. 2 named lines continue from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 932 times by this move order. White won 48%, 3% were drawn and Black won 49%. The most popular continuation is 6… Nxc4 (58% of games).
Engine evaluation: −0.21 (Stockfish, depth 50; best line 6… h6 7. Nf3 e4 8. Nd4 Bc5 9. c3)
- ECO
- C58
- Moves
- 11 plies
- FEN
r1bqkb1r/ppp2ppp/5n2/n2Pp1N1/2B5/3P4/PPP2PPP/RNBQK2R b KQkq - 0 6- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. Ng5 d5 5. exd5 Na5 6. d3
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 428 | |
| 1500-1999 | 344 | |
| 2000+ | 160 | |
| All | 932 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 6… Nxc4 | 541 (58%) | |
| 6… h6 | 192 (21%) | |
| 6… Nxd5 | 72 (8%) | |
| 6… c6 | 27 (3%) | |
| 6… Be7 | 27 (3%) | |
| 6… Bc5 | 26 (3%) | |
| 6… Bd6 | 21 (2%) | |
| 6… e4 | 9 (1%) |
Master games
163 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 45%, draw 15%, Black 40%). The strongest:
- GM Li Chao2 (2683) – IM Raunak Sadhwani (2522) 1-0 · PRO League Group Stage · 2020-01-15
- GM Vignir Vatnar Stefansson (2537) – GM Gawain C B Maroroa Jones (2639) 1/2-1/2 · LCC Superblitz GpC · 2024-12-07
- GM Vignir Vatnar Stefansson (2536) – GM Aryan Tari (2636) 0-1 · Titled Tue 22nd Apr Late · 2025-04-22
- GM Vignir Vatnar Stefansson (2536) – GM Alan Pichot (2587) 1-0 · Titled Tue 1st Apr Late · 2025-04-01
- GM Chongsheng Zeng (2597) – IM Jingyao Tin (2485) 1-0 · Online Olym Div2 A 2021 · 2021-09-02
Highest-rated Lichess games
- TheorySpeedrun (2706) – IM beatles_21 (2743) 1-0 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
- TheorySpeedrun (2727) – July16Q (2648) 1-0 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 0s
- TheorySpeedrun (2703) – Aggressive-Python (2657) 1-0 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Italian Game: Two Knights Defense, Polerio Defense 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. Ng5 d5 5. exd5 Na5
Continuations
- Italian Game: Two Knights Defense, Maróczy Variation C58 · 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
- Italian Game: Two Knights Defense, Polerio Defense, Yankovich Variation C58 · 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 Bc5 10. Nfd2
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.