C52 · Open · a plan for White
Italian Game: Evans Gambit, Main Line
10/10
1.e4e52.Nf3Nc63.Bc4Bc54.b4Bxb45.c3Ba5
Live databaseLichess 1600–2000 · blitz + rapid
Italian Game: Evans Gambit, Main Line1.2M games · White to move
MoveWhite / draw / BlackPlayedGamesScore
d470%823k55%
Qb312%137k52%
Ba31.2%14k46%
d30.1%1.7k41%
Bb20.1%1.1k40%
Qa40.1%73441%
a40.1%66540%
Bxf7+0%43443%
Ng50%38523%
Famous games in this line889 master games
Carlsen, M. (2830) – Anand, V. (2751)Nakamura, Hi (2775) – Anand, V. (2793)Vachier Lagrave, M. (2774) – So, W. (2767)Li Chao2 (2751) – Ding Liren (2766)Mamedyarov, S. (2747) – Ding Liren (2766)Short, Nigel D (2698) – Kasparov, Garry (2812)Morozevich, Alexander (2745) – Adams, Michael (2746)Vidit, S. (2724) – So, W. (2760)Heroes of this opening Carlsen, M. · Vachier Lagrave, M. · Ding Liren · Kasparov, Garry
Keep exploring
Go deeper — named lines from here
Italian Game: Evans Gambit, Slow VariationC52 6.O-O · 5 deeper linesItalian Game: Evans Gambit, Pierce DefenseC52 6.d4 exd4 · 8 deeper linesItalian Game: Evans Gambit, Bronstein DefenseC52 6.d4 d6 · 3 deeper linesItalian Game: Evans Gambit, Laroche VariationC52 6.d4 Nf6
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
- C52
- Line
- 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. b4 Bxb4 5. c3 Ba5
GambitClassical
★ Read the guide: Italian GameExplore all 184 Italian Game lines →Study this opening elsewhere