Italian Game: Evans Gambit Declined, Cordel Variation
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. b4 Bb6 5. Bb2
The Italian Game: Evans Gambit Declined, Cordel Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO C51, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. b4 Bb6 5. Bb2. It is a line of the Italian Game. Black is to move.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 27 times by this move order. White won 52%, 4% were drawn and Black won 44%. The most popular continuation is 5… d6 (81% of games).
Engine evaluation: −0.10 (Stockfish, depth 36; best line 5… Nf6 6. O-O Nxe4 7. d3 Nf6 8. b5)
- ECO
- C51
- Moves
- 9 plies
- FEN
r1bqk1nr/pppp1ppp/1bn5/4p3/1PB1P3/5N2/PBPP1PPP/RN1QK2R b KQkq - 2 5- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. b4 Bb6 5. Bb2
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 10 | |
| 1500-1999 | 16 | |
| 2000+ | 1 | |
| All | 27 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 5… d6 | 22 (81%) | |
| 5… a6 | 1 (4%) | |
| 5… Qe7 | 1 (4%) | |
| 5… Nxb4 | 1 (4%) | |
| 5… Nf6 | 1 (4%) | |
| 5… Qf6 | 1 (4%) |
Master games
4 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 25%, draw 0%, Black 75%). The strongest:
- Dragomir Sokic (2184) – GM Vishnu Prasanna. V (2514) 0-1 · 29th Belgrade Trophy 2015 · 2015-11-25
- IM Justin Sarkar (2365) – FM Halldor Gretar Einarsson (2239) 1-0 · Titled Tuesday 20th Apr · 2021-04-20
- IM Alexander Reprintsev (2225) – FM Ioan Rees (2293) 0-1 · Titled Tue 11th Jul Late · 2023-07-11
- CM Marcel Winkels (1924) – FM Eddy L Levi (2147) 0-1 · Titled Tue 27th Aug Early · 2024-08-27
Search all games of the Italian Game: Evans Gambit Declined, Cordel Variation and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- Kruciatos (2645) – GM ikica77 (2684) 0-1 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
- Niksel (1880) – Stas1983-1 (1918) 1-0 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
- AndrehsBarakat1 (1898) – vladpav (1888) 1-0 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Italian Game: Evans Gambit Declined (4. b4 Bb6) 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. b4 Bb6
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.