Open · a plan for White

Italian Game: Evans Gambit, Compromised Defense, Potter Variation

21/21
1.e4e52.Nf3Nc63.Bc4Bc54.b4Bxb45.c3Ba56.d4exd47.O-Odxc38.Qb3Qf69.e5Qg610.Nxc3Nge711.Rd1
Live databaseLichess 1600–2000 · blitz + rapid
Italian Game: Evans Gambit, Compromised Defense, Potter Variation43 games · Black to move
Only 43 games reach this position at this level — read it loosely.
MoveWhite / draw / BlackPlayedGamesScore
79%3462%
12%520%
4.7%20%
2.3%10%
2.3%1100%
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. d4 exd4 7. O-O dxc3 8. Qb3 Qf6 9. e5 Qg6 10. Nxc3 Nge7 11. Rd1
GambitClassical
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Nearby lines in the family
Italian Game: Evans Gambit, Steinitz Variation5…Bc5 6.d4 exd4 7.O-O d6 8.cxd4 …Italian Game: Evans Gambit, Levenfish Variation6…d6 7.Qb3 Qd7 8.dxe5 dxe5 9.O-O …Italian Game: Scotch Gambit, Anderssen Attack, Main Line3…Nf6 4.d4 exd4 5.O-O Nxe4 6.Re1 …
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
Videos on YouTube ↗Wikipedia: Italian Game ↗