C51 · Open · a plan for White
Italian Game: Evans Gambit Declined, Showalter Variation
11/11
1.e4e52.Nf3Nc63.Bc4Bc54.b4Bb65.a4a66.Nc3
Live databaseLichess 1600–2000 · blitz + rapid
Italian Game: Evans Gambit Declined, Showalter Variation10k games · Black to move
MoveWhite / draw / BlackPlayedGamesScore
d652%5.3k51%
Nf633%3.4k49%
Nxb48.5%87246%
Nge71.8%18641%
h61.8%18450%
Nd41.1%11451%
Bd40.8%7944%
Qf60.5%5636%
Ba70.4%4649%
f50.2%2534%
Famous games in this line78 master games
Grischuk, A. (2750) – Carlsen, M. (2832)Morozevich, Alexander (2788) – Kamsky, Gata (2723)Wei, Yi (2551) – Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar (2775)Wei Yi (2607) – Harikrishna, P. (2706)Petrosian, Tigran L (2629) – Tkachiev, Vladislav (2664)Negi, Parimarjan (2620) – Milov, Vadim (2652)Aditya, Mittal (2595) – Sanal, V. (2595)Negi, Parimarjan (2620) – Kotsur, Pavel (2568)Heroes of this opening Carlsen, M. · Kamsky, Gata · Petrosian, Tigran L · Milov, Vadim
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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. a4 a6 6. Nc3
GambitClassical
★ Read the guide: Italian GameExplore all 184 Italian Game lines →Study this opening elsewhere