Italian Game: Two Knights Defense, Steinitz 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. Nh3
The Italian Game: Two Knights Defense, Steinitz 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. Nh3. 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 106 times by this move order. White won 57%, 5% were drawn and Black won 38%. The most popular continuation is 9… Bxh3 (42% of games).
Engine evaluation: −0.10 (Stockfish, depth 55; best line 9… Bd6 10. d3 O-O 11. Ng1 Bc5 12. Nf3)
- ECO
- C59
- Moves
- 17 plies
- FEN
r1bqkb1r/p4pp1/2p2n1p/n3p3/8/7N/PPPPBPPP/RNBQK2R b KQkq - 1 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 9. Nh3
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 13 | |
| 1500-1999 | 51 | |
| 2000+ | 42 | |
| All | 106 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 9… Bxh3 | 44 (42%) | |
| 9… Bd6 | 26 (25%) | |
| 9… Bc5 | 23 (22%) | |
| 9… g5 | 3 (3%) | |
| 9… Be7 | 3 (3%) | |
| 9… Nb7 | 2 (2%) | |
| 9… Bf5 | 2 (2%) | |
| 9… Nd5 | 1 (1%) |
Master games
287 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 48%, draw 16%, Black 36%). The strongest:
- GM Levon Aronian (2772) – GM Liren Ding (2801) 1-0 · Tata Steel India Blitz · 2019-11-25
- GM Levon Aronian (2772) – GM Liren Ding (2799) 1-0 · Airthings Masters Prelim · 2022-02-20
- GM Levon Aronian (2781) – GM Anish Giri (2780) 1/2-1/2 · FTX Crypto Cup Prelim · 2021-05-23
- GM Jan-Krzysztof Duda (2729) – GM Liren Ding (2799) 0-1 · Goldmoney Asian Rapid KO · 2021-06-30
- GM Levon Aronian (2742) – GM So, W. (2753) 0-1 · chess.com SpeedChess 2023 · 2023-09-05
Search all games of the Italian Game: Two Knights Defense, Steinitz Variation and its sub-variations
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
- Patersson91 (2328) – ShirtOverHeadYesss (2384) 1-0 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 2s
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.