Italian Game: Two Knights Defense, Knight Attack, Normal Variation
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Statistics from Lichess
8,148,419 games: White 50.5% / Draw 3.7% / Black 45.8%
| Next move | Games | White / Draw / BlackW / D / B |
|---|---|---|
| 8,068,8658.1M | ||
| 40,53741K | ||
| 21,63222K | ||
| 8,9968,996 | ||
| 6,3446,344 | ||
| 801801 | ||
| 296296 | ||
| 224224 |
Rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, from the Lichess opening explorer, updated Oct 24, 2026
Engine evaluation
+0.10 The position is about equal
Best play: 5. exd5 Na5 6. Bb5+ c6 7. dxc6 bxc6 8. Bd3 Nd5 9. Nf3 Bd6
Stockfish 19, depth 30, after the line's last move. Scores are in pawns, from White's side.
By rating
The stronger the players, the better this line does for Black: Black scores 44% under 1400, 49% at 2200 and up and 46% in master games (wins plus half the draws).
| Players | Games | White / Draw / BlackW / D / B |
|---|---|---|
| Under 1400 | 8.1M | |
| 1400–1799 | 9.1M | |
| 1800–2199 | 3.7M | |
| 2200 and up | 371K | |
| Masters, over the board | 3,320 |
Master games
- So, W. – Carlsen, M.
- Firouzja, A. – Carlsen, M.
- Aronian, L. – Caruana, F.
- Gukesh, D. – Carlsen, M.
- Aronian, L. – Ding Liren
Rated blitz, rapid and classical Lichess games by rating band, and over-the-board games of players rated 2200+ from the Lichess masters database, updated Sep 26, 2026
Overview
Italian Game: Two Knights Defense, Knight Attack, Normal Variation (ECO C57, Open Games) is a variation of the Italian Game: Two Knights Defense, Knight Attack, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. Ng5 d5 (4 moves).
In 8,148,419 rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, White won 50.5%, Black 45.8% and 3.7% were drawn. White's most played move here is 5. exd5, in 99% of those games.
It branches into 6 named variations; the most played are Italian Game: Two Knights Defense, Polerio Defense and Italian Game: Two Knights Defense, Fried Liver Attack. In all, 23 named lines continue from it.
Written from the Lichess opening list and explorer. Know this line well? Write about it.
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Popularity by year
The Italian Game: Two Knights Defense, Knight Attack, Normal Variation has lost ground since 2016: 0.27% of Lichess games in 2025, down from 0.4%.
Numbers by year
| Year | Share of games | Games |
|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 0.4% | 141,757 |
| 2017 | 0.36% | 197,078 |
| 2018 | 0.32% | 254,977 |
| 2019 | 0.32% | 399,716 |
| 2020 | 0.35% | 1,021,601 |
| 2021 | 0.35% | 1,367,477 |
| 2022 | 0.32% | 1,187,189 |
| 2023 | 0.31% | 1,167,086 |
| 2024 | 0.29% | 1,055,431 |
| 2025 | 0.27% | 942,940 |
| 2026 (Jan–Apr) | 0.26% | 288,248 |
Share of rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500 (blitz, rapid and classical) that reach this position, by year; 2026: January to April. Which openings are rising and falling
Variations (6)
- C57 Two Knights Defense, Fried Liver Attack 5. exd5 Nxd5 6. Nxf7
- C57 Two Knights Defense, Fritz Variation 5. exd5 Nd4
- C57 Two Knights Defense, Kloss Gambit 5. exd5 Nb4
- C57 Two Knights Defense, Lolli Attack 5. exd5 Nxd5 6. d4
- C58 Two Knights Defense, Polerio Defense 5. exd5 Na5
- C57 Two Knights Defense, Ulvestad Variation 5. exd5 b5
All 23 named lines that continue from here
No line matches.
- C57 Italian Game: Two Knights Defense, Fried Liver Attack 6 moves
- C57 Italian Game: Two Knights Defense, Fritz Variation 5 moves
- C57 Italian Game: Two Knights Defense, Kloss Gambit 5 moves
- C57 Italian Game: Two Knights Defense, Lolli Attack 6 moves
- C58 Italian Game: Two Knights Defense, Polerio Defense 5 moves
- C57 Italian Game: Two Knights Defense, Ulvestad Variation 5 moves
- C57 Italian Game: Two Knights Defense, Fegatello Attack, Leonhardt Variation 11 moves
- C57 Italian Game: Two Knights Defense, Fritz, Gruber Variation 8 moves
- C57 Italian Game: Two Knights Defense, Pincus Variation 6 moves
- C58 Bishop Check Line 6 moves
- C58 Kieseritzky Variation 6 moves
- C57 Kurkin Gambit 7 moves
- C58 Italian Game: Two Knights Defense 8 moves
- C58 Italian Game: Two Knights Defense, Maróczy Variation 9 moves
- C58 Italian Game: Two Knights Defense, Polerio Defense, Bogoljubow Variation 8 moves
- C58 Italian Game: Two Knights Defense, Polerio Defense, Yankovich Variation 10 moves
- C58 Italian Game: Two Knights Defense, Blackburne Variation 8 moves
- C58 Italian Game: Two Knights Defense, Colman Variation 8 moves
- C58 Italian Game: Two Knights Defense, Paoli Variation 9 moves
- C59 Polerio Defense, Suhle Defense 8 moves
- C59 Italian Game: Two Knights Defense, Knorre Variation 12 moves
- C59 Italian Game: Two Knights Defense, Polerio Defense, Göring Variation 10 moves
- C59 Italian Game: Two Knights Defense, Steinitz Variation 9 moves
Cite this page
Caissa Codex. “Italian Game: Two Knights Defense, Knight Attack, Normal Variation (C57)”. Lichess data as of 24 Oct 2026. https://chesscodex.org/openings/italian-game-two-knights-defense-knight-attack-normal-variation