Italian Two Knights Defense: Win Rate by Lichess Rating

Italian Game: Two Knights Defense · 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 · CC0 name list

At 1500–1799 (Lichess rating), Black scored 47.8% in 22,112 Italian Game: Two Knights Defense games (±0.6; games from Oct 2025–Sep 2026).

Black won 46.1% of them, White won 50.5%, and 3.4% were drawn.

Black scores below 50% at this level (outside the margin)

In games from Oct 2025–Sep 2026, Black scored 47.8% (±0.6) with the Italian Game: Two Knights Defense in sampled Lichess games at the 1500–1799 Lichess rating level (22,112 games). Observed results, not causation.

Data period: games from 1 Oct 2025 – 30 Sep 2026 (sample of the Lichess open database) · Page updated: 9 Oct 2026

48.9%

Black's score at Lichess rating 1800–2099 · 12,547 games, Oct 2025–Sep 2026 sample

Black scores 48.9% at 1800–2099 and 45.7% under 1200.

Position after 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6. 83,297 games in this sample reached it — 14,062 of them by a different move order.

At a glance

In this sample, White's score ranged from 49.8% (2100+) to 54.3% (Under 1200).
Treat this spread with caution: the margins are approximate (see How it works).
It appeared most often in the Under 1200 group (2.4% of that group's games).
Draws were most common in the 2100+ group (6.9%).

These are observed results for the selected games (rated, players within 200 rating points of each other). They describe what happened — they do not prove the opening caused the result.

Results by Lichess rating level

Each row shows how the Italian Game: Two Knights Defense games at one rating level ended: White wins, draws and Black wins, across all time controls combined. Rating level is the average Lichess rating of both players.

White won drawn Black won. Italian Game: Two Knights Defense — results by Lichess rating level, all time controls combined (minimum 300 games per row).

Under 120019,952 gamesCompared with

White wins 52.7% · draws 3.1% · Black wins 44.2% · White's score 54.3% ±0.7 · how common 2.4%
1200–149924,400 games

White wins 51.7% · draws 2.9% · Black wins 45.4% · White's score 53.1% ±0.6 · how common 2.0%
1500–179922,112 games

White wins 50.5% · draws 3.4% · Black wins 46.1% · White's score 52.2% ±0.6 · how common 1.4%
1800–209912,547 gamesIn the headline

White wins 49.0% · draws 4.1% · Black wins 46.9% · White's score 51.1% ±0.9 · how common 0.9%
2100+4,286 games

White wins 46.3% · draws 6.9% · Black wins 46.8% · White's score 49.8% ±1.4 · how common 0.6%

"White's score" = wins + half of draws. "±" is an approximate 95% margin based only on the number of games. It does not cover sampling bias or related games (the same players appear many times), so real uncertainty is larger. "How common" = share of all sampled games at that level that reached this position. Ratings are Lichess ratings; they are not interchangeable with Chess.com or FIDE ratings.

Compare it with another choice from the same position, at the Lichess level and time control you choose: Compare in Find Your Opening (the comparison needs JavaScript)

Results by time control

Each row shows how the Italian Game: Two Knights Defense games ended in one Lichess time control, across all rating levels combined.

Italian Game: Two Knights Defense — results by time control, all rating levels combined (minimum 300 games per row)
Time control	Games	White wins	Draws	Black wins	White's score
Bullet	19,902	50.7%	2.3%	47.0%	51.8%
Blitz	40,181	51.0%	3.6%	45.3%	52.8%
Rapid	22,426	51.1%	4.2%	44.7%	53.2%
Classical	788	49.2%	4.6%	46.2%	51.5%

This table and the rating rows are separate summaries: rating levels are not split by time control here, and time controls are not split by rating. Observed results only; approximate uncertainty applies as above.

Most played replies for White at each level

Top replies with at least 150 games. "Score" is White's score after that reply (wins + half of draws). These comparisons alone can't show that one reply is reliably better — the margins are approximate and stronger or weaker players may prefer different replies.

Replies to 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 by Lichess rating level, all time controls combined
Rating level	Reply · share · games · score
Under 1200	4.Ng5 ·34.1% · 6,807 · 57.0% ±1.2 4.d3 ·26.7% · 5,320 · 52.7% ±1.3 4.Nc3 ·20.3% · 4,040 · 53.7% ±1.5
1200–1499	4.d3 ·31.4% · 7,651 · 52.9% ±1.1 4.Ng5 ·30.9% · 7,543 · 54.2% ±1.1 4.Nc3 ·17.9% · 4,358 · 52.1% ±1.5
1500–1799	4.d3 ·33.0% · 7,284 · 51.8% ±1.1 4.Ng5 ·26.9% · 5,941 · 52.5% ±1.2 4.Nc3 ·16.1% · 3,559 · 50.9% ±1.6
1800–2099	4.d3 ·37.0% · 4,648 · 51.7% ±1.4 4.Ng5 ·24.8% · 3,109 · 51.8% ±1.7 4.O-O ·12.7% · 1,594 · 50.9% ±2.4
2100+	4.d3 ·46.6% · 1,997 · 50.3% ±2.1 4.Ng5 ·23.2% · 992 · 49.7% ±3.0 4.d4 ·11.0% · 470 · 49.6% ±4.3

Up next: related positions with a page

Earlier position: Italian Game 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4
Deeper line: Fried Liver Attack 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Ng5 d5 5.exd5 Nxd5 6.Nxf7
Deeper line: Traxler Counterattack 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Ng5 Bc5
Related line: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 (King's Knight Opening: Normal Variation)
Related line: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 (Philidor Defense)
Related line: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 (Petrov's Defense)

Other choices from the same position for Black: each one's own level and score, as on its page
Opening	Lichess rating level	Games	Black's score
vs Italian Game: Giuoco Piano 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5	1500–1799	21,984	48.6% ±0.6

Each row is a separate page with its own games. A difference smaller than the two margins combined is no clear difference. Observed results, not causation.

Deeper positions with this name

The free opening list gives the name Italian Game: Two Knights Defense to 3 deeper positions on this line as well. This page counts the first one; games in the 12-month sample that reached each deeper one:

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Nc3 Nxe4 5.Nxe4 d5: 3,509 games
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Ng5 d5 5.exd5 Na5 6.Bb5+ c6 7.dxc6 bxc6 8.Be2: 617 games
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.O-O Bc5 5.d4 Bxd4 6.Nxd4 Nxd4 7.Bg5 d6: 41 games

Download these numbers: Italian Game: Two Knights Defense (CSV), released under CC0. For move-by-move exploration with your own filters, see the free Lichess opening explorer. This independent page lists each rating level and each time control in its own row for comparison.