Open · a plan for White
Italian Game: Evans Gambit, Slow Variation
11/11
1.e4e52.Nf3Nc63.Bc4Bc54.b4Bxb45.c3Ba56.O-O
Live databaseLichess 1600–2000 · blitz + rapid
Italian Game: Evans Gambit, Slow Variation192k games · Black to move
MoveWhite / draw / BlackPlayedGamesScore
53%101k55%
7.9%15k52%
6.6%13k52%
3.8%7.4k43%
0.9%1.8k50%
0.5%95643%
0.3%52251%
0.1%18938%
0.1%13650%
Famous games in this line34 master games
Carlsen, M. (2830) – Anand, V. (2751)Nakamura, Hi (2795) – Amin, B. (2683)Annageldyev, Orazly (2485) – Ivanov, Victor L (2450)Maltsevskaya, Aleksandra (2311) – Lysyj, I.. (2605)Djurhuus, Rune (2405) – Stefansson, Hannes (2420)Plat, V. (2520) – Teh, Eu Wen Aron (2285)Kopylov, Alexander A (2442) – Karpov, Alexander (2362)Blaskowski, Johannes (2326) – Ovod, Evgenija (2440)Heroes of this opening Carlsen, M. · Nakamura, Hi · Annageldyev, Orazly · Lysyj, I..
- Family
- Italian Game
- Category
- Open
- First move
- 1.e4
- ECO
- C52
- Line
- 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. b4 Bxb4 5. c3 Ba5 6. O-O
GambitClassical
★ Read the guide: Italian GameExplore all 184 Italian Game lines →Keep exploring
Go deeper — named lines from here
Italian Game: Evans Gambit, Lasker Defense6…d6 7.d4 Bb6Italian Game: Evans Gambit, Anderssen Defense6…Nf6 7.d4 exd4Italian Game: Evans Gambit, Sanders-Alapin Variation6…d6 7.d4 Bd7Italian Game: Evans Gambit, Alapin-Steinitz Variation6…d6 7.d4 Bg4
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