Traxler Counterattack: Win Rate by Lichess Rating

Italian Game: Two Knights Defense, Traxler Counterattack · 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Ng5 Bc5 · CC0 name list

At 1500–1799 (Lichess rating), Black scored 48.9% in 676 Italian Game: Two Knights Defense, Traxler Counterattack games (±3.7; games from Oct 2025–Sep 2026).

Black won 47.8% of them, White won 50.0%, and 2.2% were drawn.

No clear difference from 50% at this level (inside the margin)

In games from Oct 2025–Sep 2026, Black scored 48.9% (±3.7) with the Italian Game: Two Knights Defense, Traxler Counterattack in sampled Lichess games at the 1500–1799 Lichess rating level (676 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

0.1%

of rated games at Lichess ratings under 1200 reached the Italian Game: Two Knights Defense, Traxler Counterattack · 830 of 817,349 games, Oct 2025–Sep 2026 sample

At 1800–2099: 0.0%. Under 1200: 0.1%. 3.1× as common under 1200 as at 1800–2099.

Position after 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Ng5 Bc5. 2,921 games in this sample reached it — 578 of them by a different move order.

At a glance

In this sample, White's score ranged from 51.1% (1500–1799) to 54.5% (Under 1200).
That spread is within the approximate margin of error, so this sample shows no clear difference between levels.
It appeared most often in the Under 1200 group (0.1% of that group's games).
Draws were most common in the Under 1200 group (2.7%).

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, Traxler Counterattack 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, Traxler Counterattack — results by Lichess rating level, all time controls combined (minimum 300 games per row).

Under 1200830 gamesIn the headline

White wins 53.1% · draws 2.7% · Black wins 44.2% · White's score 54.5% ±3.3 · how common 0.1%
1200–1499882 games

White wins 51.1% · draws 1.5% · Black wins 47.4% · White's score 51.9% ±3.3 · how common 0.1%
1500–1799676 games

White wins 50.0% · draws 2.2% · Black wins 47.8% · White's score 51.1% ±3.7 · how common 0.0%
1800–2099429 gamesCompared with

White wins 51.0% · draws 2.1% · Black wins 46.9% · White's score 52.1% ±4.7 · how common 0.0%
2100+104 games

Not enough games in this sample

"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.

See the replies most often played next at the Lichess level you choose, on one printable sheet: Prepare replies in Find Your Opening (the sheet needs JavaScript)

Results by time control

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

Italian Game: Two Knights Defense, Traxler Counterattack — 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	830	50.5%	1.4%	48.1%	51.2%
Blitz	1,281	50.7%	2.0%	47.3%	51.7%
Rapid	781	52.2%	3.3%	44.4%	53.9%
Classical	29	Not enough games in this sample

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 4.Ng5 Bc5 by Lichess rating level, all time controls combined
Rating level	Reply · share · games · score
Under 1200	5.Nxf7 ·74.1% · 615 · 52.6% ±3.9
1200–1499	5.Nxf7 ·62.4% · 549 · 50.7% ±4.1 5.Bxf7+ ·26.4% · 232 · 56.9% ±6.3
1500–1799	5.Nxf7 ·51.8% · 350 · 50.4% ±5.2 5.Bxf7+ ·37.0% · 250 · 53.2% ±6.1
1800–2099	5.Bxf7+ ·48.5% · 208 · 55.3% ±6.7 5.Nxf7 ·36.1% · 155 · 46.8% ±7.8
2100+	Not enough games in this sample

Up next: related positions with a page

Earlier position: Italian Game: Two Knights Defense 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6
Related line: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 (Italian Game: Giuoco Piano)
Related line: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 (King's Knight Opening: Normal Variation)
Related line: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 (Philidor Defense)

Download these numbers: Italian Game: Two Knights Defense, Traxler Counterattack (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.