Italian Game: Evans Gambit, Bronstein Defense
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. b4 Bxb4 5. c3 Ba5 6. d4 d6
The Italian Game: Evans Gambit, Bronstein 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. d4 d6. It is a line of the Italian Game. White is to move. 2 named lines continue from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 300 times by this move order. White won 50%, 3% were drawn and Black won 47%. The most popular continuation is 7. Qb3 (45% of games).
Engine evaluation: 0.00 (Stockfish, depth 55; best line 7. Qb3 Qd7 8. O-O Bb6 9. Nbd2 Na5)
- ECO
- C52
- Moves
- 12 plies
- FEN
r1bqk1nr/ppp2ppp/2np4/b3p3/2BPP3/2P2N2/P4PPP/RNBQK2R w KQkq - 0 7- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. b4 Bxb4 5. c3 Ba5 6. d4 d6
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 15 | |
| 1500-1999 | 156 | |
| 2000+ | 129 | |
| All | 300 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 7. Qb3 Evans Gambit, Tartakower Attack | 134 (45%) | |
| 7. O-O | 111 (37%) | |
| 7. dxe5 | 35 (12%) | |
| 7. d5 | 12 (4%) | |
| 7. h3 | 3 (1%) | |
| 7. Qa4 | 2 (1%) | |
| 7. Ba3 | 2 (1%) |
Master games
110 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 45%, draw 3%, Black 52%). The strongest:
- GM Sergei Zhigalko (2572) – GM Jan-Krzysztof Duda (2724) 0-1 · Titled Tue 25th Apr Late · 2023-04-25
- GM Tigran L. Petrosian (2645) – GM Viorel Iordachescu (2582) 1/2-1/2 · 14th Euro Indiv 2013 · 2013-05-10
- FM Luis Daniel Rodriguez Hernandez (2385) – GM Kirill Alekseenko (2703) 0-1 · Titled Tuesday 17th Aug · 2021-08-17
- IM Yunguo Wan (2494) – GM Weiqi Zhou (2590) 0-1 · Chinese Teams 2013 · 2013-05-02
- GM Mikhail Golubev (2479) – GM Bogdanovich, S. (2537) 0-1 · Vladimir Galakhov Mem · 2018-12-23
Search all games of the Italian Game: Evans Gambit, Bronstein Defense and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- Kruciatos (2709) – Chess1Love0 (2770) 0-1 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
- FM The_Fawkes (2644) – Kruciatos (2685) 1-0 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
- ArabChess48 (2574) – NameTheGame (2710) 0-1 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Italian Game: Evans Gambit, Main Line 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. b4 Bxb4 5. c3 Ba5
Continuations
- Italian Game: Evans Gambit, Sokolsky Variation C52 · 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. b4 Bxb4 5. c3 Ba5 6. d4 d6 7. Bg5
- Italian Game: Evans Gambit, Tartakower Attack C52 · 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. b4 Bxb4 5. c3 Ba5 6. d4 d6 7. Qb3
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.