C51 · Open · a plan for White
Italian Game: Evans Gambit Declined, Hicken Variation
17/17
1.e4e52.Nf3Nc63.Bc4Bc54.b4Bb65.b5Na56.Nxe5Qg57.Qf3Qxe58.Qxf7+Kd89.Bb2
Live databaseLichess 1600–2000 · blitz + rapid
Italian Game: Evans Gambit Declined, Hicken Variation9 games · Black to move
Only 9 games reach this position at this level — read it loosely.
MoveWhite / draw / BlackPlayedGamesScore
Qxe4+78%743%
Qe822%20%
Keep exploring
Nearby lines in the family
From the archives
The Italian Game is in the Göttingen manuscript and Polerio's notebooks — chess players have been putting the bishop on c4 for more than four centuries. It fell out of top-level fashion for decades, then returned as a main weapon of Carlsen and Caruana, proving the oldest plans still bite.
- Family
- Italian Game
- Category
- Open
- First move
- 1.e4
- ECO
- C51
- Line
- 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. b4 Bb6 5. b5 Na5 6. Nxe5 Qg5 7. Qf3 Qxe5 8. Qxf7+ Kd8 9. Bb2
GambitClassical
★ Read the guide: Italian GameExplore all 184 Italian Game lines →Study this opening elsewhere