Italian Game: Evans Gambit, Anderssen Variation, Cordel Line
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. b4 Bxb4 5. c3 Be7 6. d4 Na5
The Italian Game: Evans Gambit, Anderssen Variation, Cordel Line is a chess opening classified as ECO C51, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. b4 Bxb4 5. c3 Be7 6. d4 Na5. 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 206 times by this move order. White won 42%, 2% were drawn and Black won 56%. The most popular continuation is 7. Bd3 (32% of games).
Engine evaluation: 0.00 (Stockfish, depth 55; best line 7. Be2 exd4 8. Qxd4 d6 9. Qxg7 Bf6)
- ECO
- C51
- Moves
- 12 plies
- FEN
r1bqk1nr/ppppbppp/8/n3p3/2BPP3/2P2N2/P4PPP/RNBQK2R w KQkq - 1 7- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. b4 Bxb4 5. c3 Be7 6. d4 Na5
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 7 | |
| 1500-1999 | 83 | |
| 2000+ | 116 | |
| All | 206 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 7. Bd3 | 65 (32%) | |
| 7. Nxe5 | 52 (25%) | |
| 7. Bxf7+ | 44 (21%) | |
| 7. Be2 | 29 (14%) | |
| 7. Bb3 | 5 (2%) | |
| 7. Bb5 | 5 (2%) | |
| 7. O-O | 3 (1%) | |
| 7. Qa4 | 2 (1%) |
Master games
567 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 36%, draw 21%, Black 43%). The strongest:
- GM Fabiano Caruana (2835) – GM So, W. (2770) 0-1 · Clutch Chess Showdown Int · 2020-06-11
- GM Magnus Carlsen (2876) – GM Sanan Sjugirov (2662) 1-0 · Chess24 Banter Blitz Cup · 2020-04-07
- GM Yuriy Kryvoruchko (2707) – GM Sergey Karjakin (2771) 0-1 · FIDE World Rapid 2014 · 2014-06-18
- GM Javokhir Sindarov (2777) – GM Awonder Liang (2690) 1/2-1/2 · Saint Louis Blitz 2026 · 2026-08-06
- GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (2762) – GM Vladimir Malakhov (2694) 1/2-1/2 · FIDE World Blitz 2014 · 2014-06-19
Highest-rated Lichess games
- ElKlemerr (2678) – godlevelplayer (2639) 1-0 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 2s
- MiranovicRajko (2560) – TestoTester (2576) 0-1 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 2s
- AMBMCM (2592) – ERDI22 (2477) 0-1 · 2026-09-02 · 600 + 0s
Comes from
Italian Game: Evans Gambit, Anderssen Variation 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. b4 Bxb4 5. c3 Be7
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.