Italian Game: Evans Gambit, Main Line
The main line of the Evans Gambit is 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.b4 Bxb4 5.c3 Ba5. Read the guide
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Statistics from Lichess
1,285,878 games: White 51.1% / Draw 3.2% / Black 45.7%
| Next move | Games | White / Draw / BlackW / D / B |
|---|---|---|
| 919,777920K | ||
| Italian Game: Evans Gambit, Slow Variation | 202,768203K | |
| 142,857143K | ||
| 14,44914K | ||
| 1,7731,773 | ||
| 1,1651,165 | ||
| 776776 | ||
| 688688 |
Rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, from the Lichess opening explorer, updated Nov 9, 2026
Engine evaluation
+0.02 The position is about equal
Best play: 6. d4 d6 7. Qb3 Qd7 8. O-O Bb6 9. Nbd2 Na5 10. Qc2 Ne7
Stockfish 19, depth 30, after the line's last move. Scores are in pawns, from White's side.
By rating
Rating changes little here: Black scores 49% under 1400, 50% at 2200 and up and 52% in master games (wins plus half the draws).
| Players | Games | White / Draw / BlackW / D / B |
|---|---|---|
| Under 1400 | 107K | |
| 1400–1799 | 607K | |
| 1800–2199 | 799K | |
| 2200 and up | 94K | |
| Masters, over the board | 889 |
Master games
- Carlsen, M. – Anand, V.
- Nakamura, H. – Anand, V.
- Vachier Lagrave, M. – So, W.
- Li Chao2 – Ding Liren
- Mamedyarov, S. – Ding Liren
Rated blitz, rapid and classical Lichess games by rating band, and over-the-board games of players rated 2200+ from the Lichess masters database, updated Sep 27, 2026
Description
The main line of the Evans Gambit is 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.b4 Bxb4 5.c3 Ba5. Black accepts the b-pawn and retreats the bishop to a5, where it pins the c3-pawn if White plays 6.d4. The drawback is that the a5-square is no longer available to Black's knight, so Black will often retreat the bishop to b6 later to make room for ...Na5. ECO gives this line its own code, C52.
6.d4 exd4
White usually continues 6.d4, offering a second pawn; 6.O-O and 6.Qb3 are the alternatives. After 6...exd4 White cannot recapture with 7.cxd4 because of the pin. 7.Nxd4 is possible but sets Black few problems, so White usually prefers 7.O-O or 7.Qb3, the move preferred by Nigel Short.
- 7.O-O Nge7 is the Mieses Defence. Formerly rare, it was recommended by Vasily Panov in the 1960s and is now one of the main lines. Black meets 8.Ng5 or 8.cxd4 with 8...d5, returning the pawn in many lines.
- 7.O-O dxc3, the Compromised Defence, takes the second pawn. It is well met by 8.Qb3 Qf6 9.e5 Qg6 10.Nxc3 Nge7 11.Ba3, with a very dangerous initiative for White, and is not well regarded.
- 7.O-O Nf6 is the Anderssen Defence.
- 7...d6 and 7...Bb6 usually aim for the Normal Position after 8.cxd4.
6.d4 d6
With 6...d6 Black supports e5 instead. After 7.O-O Bb6, Emanuel Lasker's defence, play most often goes 8.dxe5 dxe5 9.Qxd8+ Nxd8 10.Nxe5 Be6. Black returns the pawn and exchanges queens, which takes the sting out of White's attack; Reuben Fine called it "psychologically depressing for the gambit player". White avoids it with 7.Qb3, the Tartakower Attack, the most frequent move here; Black usually defends f7 with 7...Qd7.
The numbers
On Lichess White wins 51.1% of the 1.3 million games and Black 45.7%. From 2200 up Black is slightly ahead, 47.8% against 47.5%. Masters draw more than half their games: in 889 games over the board 54.0% were drawn, Black won 24.6% and White 21.4%.
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How to play against the Italian Game: Evans Gambit, Main Line
The most played answer, 6. d4, also scores best for White: 54.3%, with White winning 52.7% and Black 44.1% of 920K games. Of the main answers, 6. O-O scores lowest: 47.0%. Stockfish's first choice is also 6. d4.
Main answers: those played in at least 5% of these games. Score: White's wins plus half the draws, in rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500. How to play against other popular openings
Popularity by year
The Italian Game: Evans Gambit, Main Line peaked in 2021 at 0.058% of Lichess games and has slipped since: 0.042% in 2025.
Numbers by year
| Year | Share of games | Games |
|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 0.039% | 13,777 |
| 2017 | 0.047% | 25,978 |
| 2018 | 0.054% | 42,526 |
| 2019 | 0.05% | 62,468 |
| 2020 | 0.054% | 158,739 |
| 2021 | 0.058% | 226,311 |
| 2022 | 0.053% | 198,525 |
| 2023 | 0.049% | 185,116 |
| 2024 | 0.046% | 165,285 |
| 2025 | 0.042% | 146,013 |
| 2026 (Jan–Apr) | 0.04% | 43,960 |
Share of rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500 (blitz, rapid and classical) that reach this position, by year; 2026: January to April. Which openings are rising and falling
Variations (5)
All 22 named lines that continue from here
No line matches.
- C52 Italian Game: Evans Gambit, Bronstein Defense 6 moves
- C52 Italian Game: Evans Gambit, Laroche Variation 6 moves
- C52 Italian Game: Evans Gambit, Leonhardt Countergambit 6 moves
- C52 Italian Game: Evans Gambit, Pierce Defense 6 moves
- C52 Italian Game: Evans Gambit, Slow Variation 6 moves
- C52 Italian Game: Evans Gambit 6 moves
- C52 Italian Game: Evans Gambit, Anderssen Defense 7 moves
- C52 Italian Game: Evans Gambit, Compromised Defense 7 moves
- C52 Italian Game: Evans Gambit, Dufresne Defense 7 moves
- C52 Italian Game: Evans Gambit, Johner Defense 7 moves
- C52 Italian Game: Evans Gambit, Mieses Defense 7 moves
- C51 Italian Game: Evans Gambit, Morphy Attack 9 moves
- C52 Italian Game: Evans Gambit, Richardson Attack 8 moves
- C52 Italian Game: Evans Gambit, Sokolsky Variation 7 moves
- C52 Italian Game: Evans Gambit, Tartakower Attack 7 moves
- C52 Italian Game: Evans Gambit, Waller Attack 8 moves
- C52 Alapin-Steinitz Variation 7 moves
- C52 Main Line 11 moves
- C52 Potter Variation 11 moves
- C52 Lasker Defense 7 moves
- C52 Italian Game: Evans Gambit, Levenfish Variation 11 moves
- C52 Sanders-Alapin Variation 7 moves
Sources
- History and theory: adapted from the Wikipedia article Evans Gambit, version of 25 October 2026, under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Results: Lichess opening explorer, figures collected from September to November 2026.
Cite this page
Caissa Codex. “Italian Game: Evans Gambit, Main Line (C52)”. Lichess data as of 9 Nov 2026. https://chesscodex.org/openings/italian-game-evans-gambit-main-line