Open · a plan for White
Italian Game: Evans Gambit, Sanders-Alapin Variation
14/14
1.e4e52.Nf3Nc63.Bc4Bc54.b4Bxb45.c3Ba56.O-Od67.d4Bd7
Live databaseLichess 1600–2000 · blitz + rapid
Italian Game: Evans Gambit, Sanders-Alapin Variation855 games · White to move
MoveWhite / draw / BlackPlayedGamesScore
48%40949%
22%18659%
10%8744%
6.4%5527%
6%5135%
1.9%1656%
1.4%1233%
0.9%856%
0.7%633%
0.5%425%
Famous games in this line1 master games
Aymard, Michel (2221) – Ould Ahmed, Samy (2408)- 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 6. O-O d6 7. d4 Bd7
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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