Italian Game: Two Knights Defense, Modern Bishop's Opening: what should Black play?

In the Italian Game: Two Knights Defense, Modern Bishop's Opening, Black achieves a solid position by continuing with the natural pawn support d6. Recorded in 636,755 games, this position arises after White adopts a quiet setup with pawns on c3 and d3. The engine identifies d6 as the top recommendation with an evaluation of +0.17, closely followed by h6 (+0.18) and immediate kingside castling with O-O (+0.18).

Central solidity with d6

The move d6 anchors the central e5 pawn and opens a diagonal for the light-squared bishop. An illustrative continuation demonstrates a typical positional setup: d6 O-O h6 Re1 O-O Bb3. Black easily neutralizes White's opening advantage by completing kingside development while preventing any quick central breakthroughs.

Alternative defensive setups

Players seeking immediate safety can opt for O-O, which evaluates at +0.18. The engine features an illustrative counterpunch in the center after O-O O-O d5 exd5 Nxd5 Ng5, challenging White's control early. Another flexible try is h6, also evaluated at +0.18, leading to h6 O-O O-O Re1 d6 Bb3 where Black preemptively secures the g5 square before committing the central structure.

Sidelines with a6 and Qe7

Less common tries include a6 (+0.29), which prepares queenside expansion or preserves a retreat square for pieces, as shown in a6 O-O d6 Re1 h6 a4. Black can also test Qe7 (+0.42), which allows the game to flow into Qe7 Bb3 d6 O-O O-O Re1. While playable, these moves evaluate slightly worse than the primary central and development choices.