C51

Italian Game: Evans Gambit, McDonnell Defense, Main Line

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Statistics from Lichess

171,521 games: White 47.9% / Draw 3.2% / Black 48.9%

The moves played next. Pick one to see it on the board.
Next move	Games	White / Draw / BlackW / D / B
	42,00142K
Italian Game: Evans Gambit, Morphy Attack	28,87429K
	15,07915K
	13,55414K
	12,70413K
	11,41911K
	11,28111K
	9,0259,025

Rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, from the Lichess opening explorer, updated Oct 23, 2026

Engine evaluation

+0.24 The position is about equal

Best play: 9. h3 Na5 10. Bd3 Ne7 11. Nc3 O-O 12. Rb1 Ng6 13. Rb5 c5

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 50% both under 1400 and at 2200 and up (wins plus half the draws).

Players	Games	White / Draw / BlackW / D / B
Under 1400	17K
1400–1799	89K
1800–2199	107K
2200 and up	8,860
Masters, over the board	39

Master games

Abdusattorov, N. – Saduakassova, D. 1–0, 2021
Mariotti, S. – Gligoric, S. 1–0, 1971
Antal, G. – Diermair, A. 1–0, 2019
Nogueiras Santiago, J. – Campora, D. H. 1–0, 1979
Boehme, S. – Kruse, H. ½–½, 2011

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

Overview

Italian Game: Evans Gambit, McDonnell Defense, Main Line (ECO C51, Open Games) is a gambit in the Italian Game: Evans Gambit, McDonnell Defense, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. b4 Bxb4 5. c3 Bc5 6. d4 exd4 7. O-O d6 8. cxd4 Bb6 (8 moves).

In 171,521 rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, White won 47.9%, Black 48.9% and 3.2% were drawn. White's most played move here is 9. Qb3, in 24% of those games.

It branches into 3 named variations; the most played are Italian Game: Evans Gambit and Italian Game: Evans Gambit, Ulvestad Variation. In all, 8 named lines continue from it.

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Description

How to play against the Italian Game: Evans Gambit, McDonnell Defense, Main Line

9. h3 scores best for White: 53.4%, with White winning 51.6% and Black 44.8% of 9,025 games. The most played, 9. Qb3, scores 52.3% in 42K games, and 9. Ng5 scores lowest: 35.6%. Stockfish's first choice is also 9. h3.

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, McDonnell Defense, Main Line peaked in 2021 at 0.0072% of Lichess games and has slipped since: 0.0062% in 2025.

0.0053%0.0062%0.0072%

Numbers by year

Year	Share of games	Games
2016	0.0053%	1,898
2017	0.0062%	3,391
2018	0.0064%	5,039
2019	0.0066%	8,242
2020	0.0068%	19,805
2021	0.0072%	28,117
2022	0.0068%	25,606
2023	0.0068%	25,646
2024	0.0065%	23,216
2025	0.0062%	21,343
2026 (Jan–Apr)	0.0059%	6,469

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 (3)

Transpositions

C51 Italian Game: Evans Gambit, Morphy Attack after 9. Nc3

All 8 named lines that continue from here

Cite this page

Caissa Codex. “Italian Game: Evans Gambit, McDonnell Defense, Main Line (C51)”. Lichess data as of 23 Oct 2026. https://chesscodex.org/openings/italian-game-evans-gambit-mcdonnell-defense-main-line