Open · a plan for White
Italian Game: Evans Gambit, Anderssen Variation
10/10
1.e4e52.Nf3Nc63.Bc4Bc54.b4Bxb45.c3Be7
Live databaseLichess 1600–2000 · blitz + rapid
Italian Game: Evans Gambit, Anderssen Variation578k games · White to move
MoveWhite / draw / BlackPlayedGamesScore
78%452k52%
11%66k46%
9.9%57k51%
0.2%90442%
0.1%70545%
0.1%47834%
0.1%38246%
0%18644%
0%10417%
0%9641%
Famous games in this line435 master games
Caruana, Fabiano (2835) – So, Wesley (2770)Kasparov, Garry (2805) – Anand, Viswanathan (2715)Kryvoruchko, Y. (2707) – Karjakin, Sergey (2771)Erigaisi, Arjun (2728) – Mamedyarov, S. (2747)Kasparov, Garry (2805) – Short, Nigel D (2655)Vachier Lagrave, M. (2762) – Malakhov, V. (2694)Short, Nigel D (2698) – Bruzon Batista, Lazaro (2713)Fressinet, Laurent (2707) – Efimenko, Zahar (2701)Heroes of this opening So, Wesley · Kasparov, Garry · Karjakin, Sergey · Mamedyarov, S.
- Family
- Italian Game
- Category
- Open
- First move
- 1.e4
- ECO
- C51
- Line
- 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. b4 Bxb4 5. c3 Be7
GambitClassical
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From the archives
The Italian Game appears in the Göttingen manuscript (c. 1500) and in Polerio's notebooks — chess players have been putting the bishop on c4 for more than five hundred years. It fell out of top-level fashion for decades, then came back as White players went looking for a way round the Berlin Defence; Carlsen used the quiet Giuoco Pianissimo in the 2016 world-championship match.
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