Italian Game: Evans Gambit, Anderssen Defense
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. b4 Bxb4 5. c3 Ba5 6. O-O Nf6 7. d4 exd4
The Italian Game: Evans Gambit, Anderssen Defense is a chess opening classified as ECO C52, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. b4 Bxb4 5. c3 Ba5 6. O-O Nf6 7. d4 exd4. It is a line of the Italian Game. White is to move.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 76 times by this move order. White won 43%, 0% were drawn and Black won 57%. The most popular continuation is 8. e5 (54% of games).
Engine evaluation: −0.09 (Stockfish, depth 60; best line 8. Ba3 d6 9. e5 Ne4 10. exd6 cxd6)
- ECO
- C52
- Moves
- 14 plies
- FEN
r1bqk2r/pppp1ppp/2n2n2/b7/2BpP3/2P2N2/P4PPP/RNBQ1RK1 w kq - 0 8- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. b4 Bxb4 5. c3 Ba5 6. O-O Nf6 7. d4 exd4
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 17 | |
| 1500-1999 | 49 | |
| 2000+ | 10 | |
| All | 76 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 8. e5 | 41 (54%) | |
| 8. cxd4 | 28 (37%) | |
| 8. Qb3 | 3 (4%) | |
| 8. Nxd4 | 2 (3%) | |
| 8. Ba3 | 1 (1%) | |
| 8. Bxf7+ | 1 (1%) |
Master games
8 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 38%, draw -1%, Black 63%). The strongest:
- IM Vladimir Zemerov (2268) – IM Michael Song (2421) 0-1 · Titled Tuesday 15th Sept · 2020-09-15
- FM Machteld Van Foreest (2235) – FM Diego Carbone (2314) 0-1 · Titled Tue 23rd Aug Late · 2022-08-23
- Trygve Dahl (2292) – Hampus Sorensen (2137) 0-1 · Xtracon Chess Open 2017 · 2017-07-29
- Christoph Opietnik (1983) – FM Dietmar Hiermann (2202) 0-1 · ch-AUT 2018 · 2018-07-23
- Ozgun Sahin (2164) – Ozgur Akman (1930) 1-0 · Silver Lake Open 2017 · 2017-06-20
Search all games of the Italian Game: Evans Gambit, Anderssen Defense and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- Victor_Vodolei (2254) – azeria (2326) 0-1 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 2s
- Benjidemin (2254) – sanjuandennis31 (2282) 0-1 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 0s
- BladesMaster61 (2217) – Jamesdg408 (2282) 1-0 · 2026-09-03 · 600 + 0s
Comes from
Italian Game: Evans Gambit, Slow Variation 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. b4 Bxb4 5. c3 Ba5 6. O-O
More Italian Game lines (all)
- Italian Game C50
- Italian Game: Anti-Fried Liver Defense C50
- Italian Game: Blackburne-Kostić Gambit C50
- Italian Game: Classical Variation, Albin Gambit C50
- Italian Game: Deutz Gambit C50
- Italian Game: Giuoco Pianissimo (3… Bc5 4. d3) C50
- Italian Game: Giuoco Pianissimo (5… d6 6. d3) C50
- Italian Game: Giuoco Pianissimo (5. O-O O-O) C50
- Italian Game: Giuoco Pianissimo (5… O-O 6. d3) C50
- Italian Game: Giuoco Pianissimo, Canal Variation C50
- Italian Game: Giuoco Pianissimo, Dubois Variation C50
- Italian Game: Giuoco Pianissimo, Italian Four Knights Variation C50
Opening names and moves from the Lichess openings dataset; statistics from the Lichess open database, 2026-09 (CC0), sample of 12.6 million games, bots excluded; evaluations from Lichess cloud analysis (all CC0). Master games from The Week in Chess #920–#1664 by Mark Crowther, used with permission.