Caissa Codex
C51

Italian Game: Evans Gambit, Paulsen Variation

Chess diagram: Italian Game: Evans Gambit, Paulsen Variation after 10…Ne7

Type a move and press Enter: e4, Nf3, O-O, or from and to squares like g1f3 (e7e8q to promote). The board is also played with the mouse.

Play any move on the board to explore from there, or step through the line with ‹ › and the arrow keys.

Statistics from Lichess

257 games: White 44.7% / Draw 4.3% / Black 51.0%

The moves played next. Pick one to see it on the board.
Next moveGamesWhite / Draw / BlackW / D / B
142142
5858
3838
88
66
22
22
11

Rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, from the Lichess opening explorer, updated Oct 29, 2026

Engine evaluation

+0.11 The position is about equal

Best play: 11. Bd3 O-O 12. Nc3 Ng6 13. Rc1 Bg4 14. Ne2 c6 15. Ng3 cxd5

Stockfish 19, depth 30, after the line's last move. Scores are in pawns, from White's side.

Overview

Italian Game: Evans Gambit, Paulsen Variation (ECO C51, Open Games) is a gambit in the Italian Game: Evans Gambit, Ulvestad Variation, 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 9. d5 Na5 10. Bb2 Ne7 (10 moves).

In 257 rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, White won 44.7%, Black 51.0% and 4.3% were drawn. White's most played move here is 11. Bb5+, in 55% of those games.

Written from the Lichess opening list and explorer. Know this line well? Write about it.

Write a description or report a mistake
What would you like to send?

Markdown supported (headings ###, bold, lists, links). Submissions are reviewed before publishing.

Cite this page

Caissa Codex. “Italian Game: Evans Gambit, Paulsen Variation (C51)”. Lichess data as of 29 Oct 2026. https://chesscodex.org/openings/italian-game-evans-gambit-paulsen-variation

https://chesscodex.org/openings/italian-game-evans-gambit-paulsen-variation