Italian Game: Two Knights Defense, Ulvestad Variation
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. Ng5 d5 5. exd5 b5
The Italian Game: Two Knights Defense, Ulvestad Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO C57, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. Ng5 d5 5. exd5 b5. It is a line of the Italian Game. White is to move. 1 named line continues from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 2,674 times by this move order. White won 44%, 4% were drawn and Black won 52%. The most popular continuation is 6. Bxb5 (52% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.34 (Stockfish, depth 58; best line 6. Bf1 Nxd5 7. Bxb5 Bb7 8. d3 Be7)
- ECO
- C57
- Moves
- 10 plies
- FEN
r1bqkb1r/p1p2ppp/2n2n2/1p1Pp1N1/2B5/8/PPPP1PPP/RNBQK2R w KQkq - 0 6- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. Ng5 d5 5. exd5 b5
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 741 | |
| 1500-1999 | 1,465 | |
| 2000+ | 468 | |
| All | 2,674 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 6. Bxb5 | 1,380 (52%) | |
| 6. Bf1 | 476 (18%) | |
| 6. dxc6 | 373 (14%) | |
| 6. Bb3 | 343 (13%) | |
| 6. Nxf7 | 53 (2%) | |
| 6. Be2 | 27 (1%) | |
| 6. Bd3 | 9 (0%) | |
| 6. d3 | 5 (0%) |
Master games
436 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 42%, draw 14%, Black 44%). The strongest:
- GM Gukesh D (2764) – GM Magnus Carlsen (2830) 1/2-1/2 · Superbet POL Rapid 2024 · 2024-05-09
- GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov (2766) – GM Hikaru Nakamura (2792) 1-0 · WR Blitz Miami 2026 · 2026-07-27
- GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov (2766) – GM So, W. (2765) 1/2-1/2 · WR Blitz Miami 2026 · 2026-07-27
- GM Jeffery Xiong (2656) – GM Hikaru Nakamura (2792) 1-0 · 1st 3-0 Thu 11th Jun 2026 · 2026-06-11
- GM Shanglei Lu (2647) – GM Hao Wang (2698) 1/2-1/2 · 15th Nat PRC RR Men · 2025-09-25
Search all games of the Italian Game: Two Knights Defense, Ulvestad Variation and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- TheorySpeedrun (2701) – FM Buyofl (2709) 0-1 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
- FM The_Fawkes (2631) – IM Hripach007 (2695) 0-1 · 2026-09-06 · 180 + 0s
- FM The_Fawkes (2641) – IM Hripach007 (2684) 0-1 · 2026-09-06 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Italian Game: Two Knights Defense, Knight Attack, Normal Variation 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. Ng5 d5
Continuations
- Italian Game: Two Knights Defense, Ulvestad Variation, Kurkin Gambit C57 · 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. Ng5 d5 5. exd5 b5 6. Bf1 h6 7. 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.