Italian Game: Two Knights Defense, Traxler Counterattack, King March Line
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. Ng5 Bc5 5. Nxf7 Bxf2+ 6. Kxf2 Nxe4+ 7. Ke3
The Italian Game: Two Knights Defense, Traxler Counterattack, King March Line is a chess opening classified as ECO C57, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. Ng5 Bc5 5. Nxf7 Bxf2+ 6. Kxf2 Nxe4+ 7. Ke3. 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 350 times by this move order. White won 43%, 1% were drawn and Black won 56%. The most popular continuation is 7… Qh4 (81% of games).
Engine evaluation: 0.00 (Stockfish, depth 55; best line 7… Qh4 8. g3 Nxg3 9. hxg3 Qd4+ 10. Kf3)
- ECO
- C57
- Moves
- 13 plies
- FEN
r1bqk2r/pppp1Npp/2n5/4p3/2B1n3/4K3/PPPP2PP/RNBQ3R b kq - 1 7- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. Ng5 Bc5 5. Nxf7 Bxf2+ 6. Kxf2 Nxe4+ 7. Ke3
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 270 | |
| 1500-1999 | 74 | |
| 2000+ | 6 | |
| All | 350 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 7… Qh4 | 285 (81%) | |
| 7… Qf6 | 37 (11%) | |
| 7… d5 | 16 (5%) | |
| 7… Qe7 | 5 (1%) | |
| 7… Nf2 | 2 (1%) | |
| 7… Qg5+ | 2 (1%) | |
| 7… Nd6 | 2 (1%) | |
| 7… Nc5 | 1 (0%) |
Master games
5 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 20%, draw 40%, Black 40%). The strongest:
- FM Jeronimo Hernandez Jimenez (2167) – FM David Santiago Lopez Ramirez (2089) 1/2-1/2 · Fortalece Sede Cali 2022 · 2022-12-28
- Milan Markovic (2194) – Jiri Olejnicek (2028) 1/2-1/2 · TCh-CZE Div1 Zapad 2012-13 · 2013-01-13
- Laurent Oungre (1832) – FM Pierre Meinsohn (2120) 1-0 · 15th Angers Open 2022 · 2022-05-27
- Vladimir N. Osipov (1919) – Andrey Stepanov (1731) 0-1 · Chigorin Memorial · 2013-10-11
Highest-rated Lichess games
- Suriken (2298) – MCBlunderdome (2180) 1/2-1/2 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
- mostafa_salman1978 (2054) – rockybalboa456 (2172) 1-0 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
- Fire75 (2114) – jozan77 (2029) 1-0 · 2026-09-03 · 600 + 0s
Comes from
Italian Game: Two Knights Defense, Traxler Counterattack, Knight Sacrifice Line 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. Ng5 Bc5 5. Nxf7
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.