Italian Game: Evans Gambit, Ulvestad Variation
Play any move on the board to explore from there, or step through the line with ‹ › and the arrow keys.
Statistics from Lichess
115 games: White 52.2% / Draw 2.6% / Black 45.2%
| Next move | Games | White / Draw / BlackW / D / B |
|---|---|---|
| 5858 | ||
| 2525 | ||
| 1515 | ||
| Italian Game: Evans Gambit, Paulsen Variation | 1414 | |
| 22 | ||
| 11 |
Rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, from the Lichess opening explorer, updated Nov 1, 2026
Engine evaluation
+0.10 The position is about equal
Best play: 10... Ne7 11. Bd3 O-O 12. Nc3 Ng6 13. Ne2 Bg4 14. Ng3 c6 15. Rc1
Stockfish 19, depth 30, after the line's last move. Scores are in pawns, from White's side.
Overview
Italian Game: Evans Gambit, Ulvestad Variation (ECO C51, Open Games) is a gambit in the Italian Game: Evans Gambit, McDonnell Defense, Main Line, 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 (10 moves).
In 115 rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, White won 52.2%, Black 45.2% and 2.6% were drawn. Black's most played move here is 10…Nf6, in 50% of those games.
It continues into one named variation, Italian Game: Evans Gambit, Paulsen Variation.
Written from the Lichess opening list and explorer. Know this line well? Write about it.
Write a description or report a mistake
Variations (1)
Cite this page
Caissa Codex. “Italian Game: Evans Gambit, Ulvestad Variation (C51)”. Lichess data as of 1 Nov 2026. https://chesscodex.org/openings/italian-game-evans-gambit-ulvestad-variation