Open · a plan for White
Italian Game: Evans Gambit, Alapin-Steinitz Variation
14/14
1.e4e52.Nf3Nc63.Bc4Bc54.b4Bxb45.c3Ba56.O-Od67.d4Bg4
Live databaseLichess 1600–2000 · blitz + rapid
Italian Game: Evans Gambit, Alapin-Steinitz Variation21k games · White to move
MoveWhite / draw / BlackPlayedGamesScore
37%7.8k48%
17%3.6k41%
15%3.0k46%
10%2.2k40%
8.3%1.7k38%
2.6%53643%
2.1%43651%
1.4%30252%
1.4%29536%
1.4%28339%
Famous games in this line7 master games
Karpatchev, Aleksandr (2395) – Renner, Christoph (2405)Postupa, Pavel (2351) – Ludwig, Christoph (2390)Rashitov, Denis Rafisovich (2328) – Mostowik, Daniel (2380)Rashitov, Denis Rafisovich (2328) – Praznik, Niko (2354)Meszaros, Andras (2325) – Papp Zoltan, Csaba (2270)Bussom, Andrew (2288) – Jiménez Melguizo, Francisco (2271)Sifré Calafat, Francisco (2092) – Quevedo García, Vicente (2382)Heroes of this opening Karpatchev, Aleksandr · Mostowik, Daniel · Praznik, Niko · Papp Zoltan, Csaba
- 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 d6 7. d4 Bg4
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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