Open · a plan for White

Italian Game: Evans Gambit, Johner Defense

14/14
1.e4e52.Nf3Nc63.Bc4Bc54.b4Bxb45.c3Ba56.d4exd47.O-Ob5
Live databaseLichess 1600–2000 · blitz + rapid
Italian Game: Evans Gambit, Johner Defense141 games · White to move
MoveWhite / draw / BlackPlayedGamesScore
75%10559%
18%2534%
4.3%650%
2.8%450%
0.7%10%
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. d4 exd4 7. O-O b5
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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