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
The Italian Game: Two Knights Defense, Polerio Defense, Suhle Defense 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. It is a line of the Italian Game. White is to move. 3 named lines continue from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 964 times by this move order. White won 47%, 4% were drawn and Black won 49%. The most popular continuation is 9. Nf3 (87% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.01 (Stockfish, depth 34; best line 9. Nf3 e4 10. Ne5 Bc5 11. O-O Qd6)
- ECO
- C59
- Moves
- 16 plies
- FEN
r1bqkb1r/p4pp1/2p2n1p/n3p1N1/8/8/PPPPBPPP/RNBQK2R w KQkq - 0 9- 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
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 174 | |
| 1500-1999 | 565 | |
| 2000+ | 225 | |
| All | 964 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 9. Nf3 | 840 (87%) | |
| 9. Nh3 Two Knights Defense, Steinitz Variation | 106 (11%) | |
| 9. Nxf7 | 11 (1%) | |
| 9. Ne4 | 4 (0%) | |
| 9. O-O | 1 (0%) | |
| 9. f3 | 1 (0%) | |
| 9. b4 | 1 (0%) |
Master games
293 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 33%, draw 12%, Black 55%). The strongest:
- GM Alexey Sarana (2689) – GM Hikaru Nakamura (2802) 0-1 · Titled Tue 1st Apr Early · 2025-04-01
- GM Dmitrij Kollars (2644) – GM Quang Liem Le (2729) 0-1 · Titled Tue 9th Sep 2025 · 2025-09-09
- GM Chithambaram VR. Aravindh (2649) – GM M. Amin Tabatabaei (2685) 1/2-1/2 · FIDE Grand Swiss 2023 · 2023-10-27
- GM Dmitrij Kollars (2659) – GM Frederik Svane (2640) 1-0 · Bundesliga 2024-25 · 2025-02-23
- GM Chongsheng Zeng (2535) – GM Pentala Harikrishna (2729) 0-1 · TCh-CHN 2018 · 2018-11-28
Highest-rated Lichess games
- FM GeNer4tion_KiLL (2622) – sigssh (2395) 1-0 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 2s
- ljdr (2468) – DeepFella (2325) 1-0 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 0s
- grmaraite (2337) – Bjfokfhihngekfspn (2437) 1-0 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 2s
Comes from
Italian Game: Two Knights Defense (7… bxc6 8. Be2) 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. Ng5 d5 5. exd5 Na5 6. Bb5+ c6 7. dxc6 bxc6 8. Be2
Continuations
- Italian Game: Two Knights Defense, Steinitz Variation C59 · 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. Nh3
- Italian Game: Two Knights Defense, Polerio Defense, Göring Variation C59 · 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
- Italian Game: Two Knights Defense, Knorre Variation C59 · 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 Bd6 11. d4 Qc7 12. Bd2
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.