Italian Game: Two Knights Defense, Polerio Defense, Suhle Defense
Play any move on the board to explore from there, or step through the line with ‹ › and the arrow keys.
Statistics from Lichess
460,424 games: White 45.3% / Draw 4.3% / Black 50.4%
| Next move | Games | White / Draw / BlackW / D / B |
|---|---|---|
| 397,637398K | ||
| Italian Game: Two Knights Defense, Steinitz Variation | 57,23457K | |
| 3,0563,056 | ||
| 1,4061,406 | ||
| 276276 | ||
| 245245 | ||
| 174174 | ||
| 148148 |
Rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, from the Lichess opening explorer, updated Oct 24, 2026
Engine evaluation
0.00 The position is about equal
Best play: 9. Nf3 e4 10. Ne5 Bd6 11. d4 exd3 12. Nxd3 O-O 13. O-O Qc7
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 worse this line does for Black: Black scores 56% under 1400, 52% at 2200 and up and 47% in master games (wins plus half the draws).
| Players | Games | White / Draw / BlackW / D / B |
|---|---|---|
| Under 1400 | 27K | |
| 1400–1799 | 206K | |
| 1800–2199 | 282K | |
| 2200 and up | 40K | |
| Masters, over the board | 739 |
Master games
- Aronian, L. – Ding Liren
- Aronian, L. – Ding Liren
- Aronian, L. – Giri, A.
- Duda, J. – Ding Liren
- Aronian, L. – Tari, A.
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 27, 2026
Overview
Italian Game: Two Knights Defense, Polerio Defense, Suhle Defense (ECO C59, Open Games) is a variation of the Italian Game: Two Knights Defense, 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 (8 moves).
In 460,424 rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, White won 45.3%, Black 50.4% and 4.3% were drawn. White's most played move here is 9. Nf3, in 86% of those games.
It branches into 3 named variations; the most played are Italian Game: Two Knights Defense, Steinitz Variation and Italian Game: Two Knights Defense, Polerio Defense, Göring Variation.
Written from the Lichess opening list and explorer. Know this line well? Write about it.
Write a description or report a mistake
How to play against the Italian Game: Two Knights Defense, Polerio Defense, Suhle Defense
9. Nh3 (Italian Game: Two Knights Defense, Steinitz Variation) scores best for White: 51.2%, with White winning 48.9% and Black 46.4% of 57K games. The most played answer, 9. Nf3, scores lowest: 47.1% in 398K games. Stockfish's first choice is 9. Nf3.
Main answers: those played in at least 5% of these games. Score: White's wins plus half the draws, in rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500. How to play against other popular openings
Popularity by year
The Italian Game: Two Knights Defense, Polerio Defense, Suhle Defense has lost ground since 2016: 0.014% of Lichess games in 2025, down from 0.027%.
Numbers by year
| Year | Share of games | Games |
|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 0.027% | 9,616 |
| 2017 | 0.027% | 15,093 |
| 2018 | 0.025% | 19,692 |
| 2019 | 0.023% | 28,659 |
| 2020 | 0.022% | 64,927 |
| 2021 | 0.018% | 69,831 |
| 2022 | 0.017% | 64,637 |
| 2023 | 0.016% | 60,839 |
| 2024 | 0.016% | 55,747 |
| 2025 | 0.014% | 48,180 |
| 2026 (Jan–Apr) | 0.013% | 14,791 |
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 (3)
Cite this page
Caissa Codex. “Italian Game: Two Knights Defense, Polerio Defense, Suhle Defense (C59)”. Lichess data as of 24 Oct 2026. https://chesscodex.org/openings/italian-game-two-knights-defense-polerio-defense-suhle-defense