Italian Game: Evans Gambit Declined, Vasquez Variation

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. b4 Bb6 5. b5 Na5 6. Nxe5 Qg5 7. Bxf7+ Ke7 8. Qh5

Italian Game: Evans Gambit Declined, Vasquez Variation after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. b4 Bb6 5. b5 Na5 6. Nxe5 Qg5 7. Bxf7+ Ke7 8. Qh5 87654321abcdefgh

The Italian Game: Evans Gambit Declined, Vasquez Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO C51, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. b4 Bb6 5. b5 Na5 6. Nxe5 Qg5 7. Bxf7+ Ke7 8. Qh5. It is a line of the Italian Game. Black is to move.

This exact move order didn't appear in our sample of 12.6 million Lichess games: it's a rare line.

Engine evaluation: −0.24 (Stockfish, depth 30; best line 8… Qxh5 9. Bxh5 Bd4 10. Nf7 Bxa1 11. Nxh8)

ECO
C51
Moves
15 plies
FEN
r1b3nr/ppppkBpp/1b6/nP2N1qQ/4P3/8/P1PP1PPP/RNB1K2R b KQ - 2 8
PGN
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. b4 Bb6 5. b5 Na5 6. Nxe5 Qg5 7. Bxf7+ Ke7 8. Qh5

Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess

Comes from

Italian Game: Evans Gambit Declined, Hirschbach Variation 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. b4 Bb6 5. b5 Na5 6. Nxe5 Qg5

More Italian Game lines (all)

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.