Italian Game: Two Knights Defense, Traxler Counterattack
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. Ng5 Bc5
The Italian Game: Two Knights Defense, Traxler Counterattack is a chess opening classified as ECO C57, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. Ng5 Bc5. It is a line of the Italian Game. White is to move. 2 named lines continue from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 5,968 times by this move order. White won 51%, 2% were drawn and Black won 47%. The most popular continuation is 5. Nxf7 (56% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.96 (Stockfish, depth 61; best line 5. Bxf7+ Ke7 6. Bc4 Qe8 7. Nc3 Nd4)
- ECO
- C57
- Moves
- 8 plies
- FEN
r1bqk2r/pppp1ppp/2n2n2/2b1p1N1/2B1P3/8/PPPP1PPP/RNBQK2R w KQkq - 6 5- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. Ng5 Bc5
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 3,653 | |
| 1500-1999 | 1,967 | |
| 2000+ | 348 | |
| All | 5,968 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 5. Nxf7 Two Knights Defense, Traxler Counterattack, Knight Sacrifice Line | 3,323 (56%) | |
| 5. Bxf7+ Two Knights Defense, Traxler Counterattack, Bishop Sacrifice Line | 1,961 (33%) | |
| 5. O-O | 360 (6%) | |
| 5. c3 | 97 (2%) | |
| 5. d4 | 57 (1%) | |
| 5. d3 | 49 (1%) | |
| 5. b4 | 36 (1%) | |
| 5. Nc3 | 34 (1%) |
Master games
31 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 55%, draw 16%, Black 29%). The strongest:
- Stoofvlees II d9 (3541) – Reckless 0.10.0-dev-9057bc13 (3749) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 29 Gambit Bonus 2026 · 2026-05-30
- Reckless 0.10.0-dev-9057bc13 (3749) – Stoofvlees II d9 (3541) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 29 Gambit Bonus 2026 · 2026-05-30
- WIM Yuliya Shvayger (2422) – IM Szczepkowska Horowska, K. (2415) 1/2-1/2 · 6th Holuj-Radzikowska · 2016-11-24
- FM Tomas Tvarijonas (2221) – GM Ivan Ivanisevic (2606) 0-1 · Titled Tuesday 19th Jan · 2021-01-19
- IM Arthur Pijpers (2476) – Lucas Van Foreest (2350) 1-0 · 8th Batavia Blitz 2016 · 2016-02-18
Highest-rated Lichess games
- Nana_jede_cevape (2860) – GM gmbrewchess (2979) 0-1 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 0s
- Gary_Oldmen (2452) – Beth_Harmon1958 (2523) 0-1 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 0s
- gedchess (2462) – Beth_Harmon1958 (2510) 1-0 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Italian Game: Two Knights Defense, Knight Attack 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. Ng5
Continuations
- Italian Game: Two Knights Defense, Traxler Counterattack, Bishop Sacrifice Line C57 · 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. Ng5 Bc5 5. Bxf7+
- Italian Game: Two Knights Defense, Traxler Counterattack, Knight Sacrifice Line C57 · 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.