My guess is that 4 d3 is currently stronger from the point of view of aiming for positions that are less well explored.
Two Knight Defense: White's most critical try?
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Last I heard, The modern two knights is still fertile ground for possible winning tries from white. The classical two knights could be worth a try just to see if your opponent knows the opening...but if he does then there is a fairly solid draw for black...unless you can manage some sort of amazing endgame magic that is not really justified. There is also a variation called the perreux which is worth honorable mention...I think objectively that variation might even give black a sort of advantage but not so much and it does create substantial imbalance in the position so any result is still possible. You can, of course, play d3 and there isn't much to say about that...but its not really in the spirit of the two knights and perhaps it would be more accurate to reach that position from some other move order.
Ng5 has not really been refuted or anything...but it is not true to claim that it wins a pawn by force...black actually does have options to keep the pawn and be fairly equal. I think ng5 has simply been overplayed, and everyone knows the opening, and frankly black has more playable options than white.
DeirdreSkye wrote:
Vercingetorix75 wrote:
You can, of course, play d3 and there isn't much to say about that...but its not really in the spirit of the two knights and perhaps it would be more accurate to reach that position from some other move order.
This is very inaccurate.White is not the one that chooses the move order.After 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 it is Black who chooses to play 3...Nf6 or 3...Bc5 or something else.
So if 4.d3 after 3...Nf6 is not in the "spirit" of 2 knights defense then you are saying that white is somehow forced to play 4.Ng5 or find another move order?
What is the move order you are suggesting for white that wants to play Italian?
But 3...Nf6 is also not in the spirit of Italian so since Black is not in the spirit of Italian why should white must be in the "spirit" of 2 knights?
"Spirits" don't play chess.The players are free to choose whatever they like.
I'm not sure what you really mean by this. Simply the position after d3 could be reached by all sorts of different move orders and it is not a result of you challenging black in their own specific move order. I'm not trying to say d3 is inferior, its just not a specific 2 knights sort of position.
The issue is just semantic here. By saying something is 'in the spirit' of the 2 knights I mean that you are trying to take advantage of that specific position which black allowed...namely that black is allowing you to try d4 or ng5. Those seem like the principled tries for white to obtain an advantage, but of course we do know after centuries of analysis that black has perfectly reasonable responses to both. But that's basically the only reason we know that 
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DeirdreSkye wrote:
Vercingetorix75 wrote:
DeirdreSkye wrote:
Vercingetorix75 wrote:
You can, of course, play d3 and there isn't much to say about that...but its not really in the spirit of the two knights and perhaps it would be more accurate to reach that position from some other move order.
This is very inaccurate.White is not the one that chooses the move order.After 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 it is Black who chooses to play 3...Nf6 or 3...Bc5 or something else.
So if 4.d3 after 3...Nf6 is not in the "spirit" of 2 knights defense then you are saying that white is somehow forced to play 4.Ng5 or find another move order?
What is the move order you are suggesting for white that wants to play Italian?
But 3...Nf6 is also not in the spirit of Italian so since Black is not in the spirit of Italian why should white must be in the "spirit" of 2 knights?
"Spirits" don't play chess.The players are free to choose whatever they like.
I'm not sure what you really mean by this. Simply the position after d3 could be reached by all sorts of different move orders and it is not a result of you challenging black in their own specific move order. I'm not trying to say d3 is inferior, its just not a specific 2 knights sort of position.
There are no other move orders for white.After 1.e4 e5 White's only other move order is to play 2.Bc4 first but that allows 2...Nf6 3.d3 c6!.
So there are no other move orders.There is only one move order for white for Italian or 2 knight's defense.
Then I suppose you would say that 1.e4 e5 2.bc4 nf6 3 d3 Nc6 is not in the 'spirit' of the bishop's opening. Black is making no attempt to take advantage of whites move order to enter into an independent bishop's opening line.
DeirdreSkye wrote:
Vercingetorix75 wrote:
Then I suppose you would say that 1.e4 e5 2.bc4 nf6 3 d3 Nc6 is not in the 'spirit' of the bishop's opening
No , I am saying that this move order needs Black's full cooperation.Why Black choose 3...Nc6 when he has the better 3...c6?In any case it's Black's decision and not white's so for a white player that wants to play Italian , 2.Bc4 move order is not an option.
Look at it this way. In the 2 knights position, there are 2 moves white can try...which he must play now or he cannot play them. ng5 or d4. Those are direct tries to challenge the black position. Other moves are not critical. They can be just fine, but they are not trying to actually do something specific about the position at hand. That is why I would say they are not in the spirit of the 2 knights. Its just semantic. It doesn't mean inferior. sorry about the confusion.
What's considered the most critical try for White in the Two Knights these days? As I'm aware, the three main tries are: 4.d3, 4.Ng5, and 4.d4. This is also the same order my database gives as far as popularity goes at the top level, with d3 far ahead of the rest. I always thought Ng5 was White's best try, as it essentially wins a pawn by force, but is d3 objectively stronger? Why is it so much more popular?