Two Knights Defense, Lolli Attack

The Lolli Attack, also called the Lolli Variation, is White's alternative to the piece sacrifice 6. Nxf7 against the recapture 5...Nxd5. Instead of giving up the knight, White strikes at e5 with the d-pawn. This opens lines toward a king that is still in the center, with the knight on d5 exposed and f7 still a target for the g5-knight and c4-bishop. It lets White pursue an advantage without the complications of the Fried Liver Attack. The engine gives White a slight edge, and in practice White scores well.

Black's most frequent replies give up the e5-pawn's grip on the center. 6...Nxd4 recentralizes a knight and is the engine's first choice. 6...exd4 opens the e-file. 6...f6 bolsters e5 at the cost of weakening the light squares around the king, but in the database it is the only common reply in which Black scores better than White. The check 6...Bb4+ is the Pincus Variation. The engine also considers developing moves such as 6...Bf5 and 6...Be6. The line is named after Giambattista Lolli, the eighteenth-century Modenese theoretician whose 1763 treatise analyzed the Italian openings.