Open · a plan for White

Italian Game: Evans Gambit, Morphy Attack

17/17
1.e4e52.Nf3Nc63.Bc4Bc54.b4Bxb45.c3Ba56.d4exd47.O-Od68.cxd4Bb69.Nc3
Live databaseLichess 1600–2000 · blitz + rapid
Italian Game: Evans Gambit, Morphy Attack27k games · Black to move
MoveWhite / draw / BlackPlayedGamesScore
18%4.8k48%
13%3.6k49%
12%3.3k39%
4.7%1.3k44%
1.4%38152%
1.3%36040%
0.8%21940%
0.5%13618%
0.2%4726%
Famous games in this line19 master games
Nogueiras Santiago, Jesus (2435) – Campora, Daniel Hugo (2400)19791–0Boehme, Sebastian (2374) – Kruse, Herbert (2436)2011½–½Bajarani, U. (2474) – Dourtmes, Philip (2328)2017½–½Schandorff, Lars (2430) – Furhoff, Johan (2320)19941–0Lukas, Norbert (2366) – Gómez-Galán Arense, Joaquín (2344)2020½–½Penz, Harald (2403) – Druckenthaner, Andreas (2300)19991–0Postupa, Pavel (2351) – Brunori, Valerio (2350)20201–0Fritsche, Frank (2374) – Vosselman, Jan M (2281)2007½–½
Heroes of this opening Nogueiras Santiago, Jesus · Schandorff, Lars · Penz, Harald · Postupa, Pavel
Category
Open
First move
1.e4
ECO
C51
Line
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. b4 Bxb4 5. c3 Ba5 6. d4 exd4 7. O-O d6 8. cxd4 Bb6 9. Nc3
GambitAggressiveClassical
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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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