Open · a plan for White
Italian Game: Evans Gambit, Fontaine Countergambit
8/8
1.e4e52.Nf3Nc63.Bc4Bc54.b4b5
Live databaseLichess 1600–2000 · blitz + rapid
Italian Game: Evans Gambit, Fontaine Countergambit1.4k games · White to move
MoveWhite / draw / BlackPlayedGamesScore
45%61079%
37%50974%
6.9%9461%
4.4%6067%
3.8%5270%
2.5%3465%
0.2%3100%
0.1%250%
0.1%10%
- Family
- Italian Game
- Category
- Open
- First move
- 1.e4
- ECO
- C51
- Line
- 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. b4 b5
GambitClassical
★ Read the guide: Italian GameExplore all 184 Italian Game lines →Keep exploring
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