Open · a plan for White
Italian Game: Evans Gambit Accepted
8/8
1.e4e52.Nf3Nc63.Bc4Bc54.b4Bxb4
Live databaseLichess 1600–2000 · blitz + rapid
Italian Game: Evans Gambit Accepted2.8M games · White to move
MoveWhite / draw / BlackPlayedGamesScore
99%2.8M54%
0.5%14k50%
0.1%2.6k44%
0%1.3k37%
0%27935%
0%23632%
0%18942%
0%16120%
0%6145%
0%5626%
Famous games in this line1.5k master games
Caruana, Fabiano (2835) – So, Wesley (2770)Carlsen, M. (2830) – Anand, V. (2751)Nakamura, Hi (2775) – Anand, V. (2793)Vachier Lagrave, M. (2774) – So, W. (2767)Kasparov, Garry (2805) – Anand, Viswanathan (2715)Li Chao2 (2751) – Ding Liren (2766)Mamedyarov, S. (2747) – Ding Liren (2766)Short, Nigel D (2698) – Kasparov, Garry (2812)Heroes of this opening Kasparov, Garry · So, Wesley · Carlsen, M. · Vachier Lagrave, M.
- Family
- Italian Game
- Category
- Open
- First move
- 1.e4
- ECO
- C51
- Line
- 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. b4 Bxb4
GambitClassical
★ Read the guide: Italian GameExplore all 184 Italian Game lines →Keep exploring
Go deeper — named lines from here
Italian Game: Evans Gambit, Main Line5.c3 Ba5 · 21 deeper linesItalian Game: Evans Gambit, Mayet Defense5.c3 Bf8Italian Game: Evans Gambit, McDonnell Defense5.c3 Bc5 · 9 deeper linesItalian Game: Evans Gambit, Anderssen Variation5.c3 Be7 · 1 deeper line
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