← All openings
C50 · Open · a plan for White

Italian Game: Rousseau Gambit

6/6
1.e4e52.Nf3Nc63.Bc4f5
Live databaseLichess 1600–2000 · blitz + rapid
Italian Game: Rousseau Gambit2.4M games · White to move
MoveWhite / draw / BlackPlayedGamesScore
d336%877k54%
exf535%843k40%
d415%359k56%
Nc36.7%162k42%
Bxg83.2%78k48%
O-O2.6%63k44%
c30.7%17k39%
Qe20.6%14k47%
Nxe50.4%9.3k33%
Ng50.4%8.6k28%
Famous games in this line15 master games
Spasov, Vasil (2598)Dimitrov, Pavel (2404)20081–0Bojkov, Dejan (2514)Dimitrov, Pavel (2304)20120–1Novik, Ma (2412)Kiik, K. (2375)2022½–½Reeh, Oliver (2399)Bach, Matthias (2352)20001–0Matthey, Harald (2326)Sobolevsky, Leonid (2415)2002½–½Womacka, Mathias (2405)Forgacs, Gyula (2325)19901–0Gomez Baillo, Jorge H (2430)Colombo Berra, Fernando (2240)1990½–½Kovacs, Laszlo M (2350)Fusthy, Zsolt (2285)1992½–½
Heroes of this opening Spasov, Vasil · Dimitrov, Pavel · Reeh, Oliver · Womacka, Mathias
Keep exploring
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.

Category
Open
First move
1.e4
ECO
C50
Line
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 f5
GambitClassical
Read the guide: Italian GameExplore all 184 Italian Game lines
Study this opening elsewhere