Open · a plan for White
Italian Game: Evans Gambit, McDonnell Defense, Main Line
16/16
1.e4e52.Nf3Nc63.Bc4Bc54.b4Bxb45.c3Bc56.d4exd47.O-Od68.cxd4Bb6
Live databaseLichess 1600–2000 · blitz + rapid
Italian Game: Evans Gambit, McDonnell Defense, Main Line161k games · White to move
MoveWhite / draw / BlackPlayedGamesScore
25%40k52%
9%14k36%
8%13k52%
7.5%12k48%
6.6%11k50%
6.5%10k50%
5.1%8.3k48%
5%8.0k53%
2.9%4.7k48%
Famous games in this line39 master games
Abdusattorov, Nodirbek (2627) – Saduakassova, D.. (2500)Mariotti, Sergio (2450) – Gligoric, Svetozar (2600)Antal, Ge (2563) – Diermair, A. (2475)Nogueiras Santiago, Jesus (2435) – Campora, Daniel Hugo (2400)Boehme, Sebastian (2374) – Kruse, Herbert (2436)Warakomski, Tomasz (2499) – Bonte, Andrei Mihai (2307)Bajarani, U. (2474) – Dourtmes, Philip (2328)Situru, Nathanael (2385) – Barus, Cerdas (2410)Heroes of this opening Abdusattorov, Nodirbek · Mariotti, Sergio · Antal, Ge · Nogueiras Santiago, Jesus
- 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 Bc5 6. d4 exd4 7. O-O d6 8. cxd4 Bb6
GambitClassical
★ Read the guide: Italian GameExplore all 184 Italian Game lines →Keep exploring
Go deeper — named lines from here
Italian Game: Evans Gambit, Fraser Attack9.Nc3 Bg4 10.Qa4 · 2 deeper linesItalian Game: Evans Gambit, Göring Attack9.Nc3 Na5 10.Bg5 · 1 deeper lineItalian Game: Evans Gambit, Ulvestad Variation9.d5 Na5 10.Bb2 · 1 deeper lineItalian Game: Evans Gambit, Paulsen Variation9.d5 Na5 10.Bb2 Ne7
Nearby lines in the family
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.
Study this opening