Italian Game: Evans Gambit, Dufresne Defense
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. b4 Bxb4 5. c3 Ba5 6. d4 exd4 7. O-O d3
The Italian Game: Evans Gambit, Dufresne 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 exd4 7. O-O d3. 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 20 times by this move order. White won 35%, 5% were drawn and Black won 60%. The most popular continuation is 8. Qb3 (80% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.20 (Stockfish, depth 55; best line 8. Qb3 Qf6 9. e5 Qf5 10. Rd1 Nge7)
- ECO
- C52
- Moves
- 14 plies
- FEN
r1bqk1nr/pppp1ppp/2n5/b7/2B1P3/2Pp1N2/P4PPP/RNBQ1RK1 w kq - 0 8- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. b4 Bxb4 5. c3 Ba5 6. d4 exd4 7. O-O d3
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 1500-1999 | 12 | |
| 2000+ | 8 | |
| All | 20 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 8. Qb3 | 16 (80%) | |
| 8. Qxd3 | 3 (15%) | |
| 8. Ba3 | 1 (5%) |
Master games
21 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 33%, draw 15%, Black 52%). The strongest:
- GM Alexey Kislinsky (2513) – IM Pavel Simacek (2490) 0-1 · 33rd Voivoda Cup 2017 · 2017-12-11
- Yunguo Wan (2474) – IM Chongsheng Zeng (2463) 1-0 · zt 3.5 China Men 2012 · 2012-09-18
- WIM Polina Shuvalova (2383) – IM Alisa Galliamova (2443) 0-1 · Nutcracker Rapid w 2016 · 2016-12-22
- Masoud Mosadeghpour (2325) – IM Misratdin Iskandarov (2396) 1-0 · 13th Khazar Open 2015 · 2015-02-13
- Marek Nabelek (2244) – FM Karol Motuz (2423) 0-1 · TCh-CZE 1 Liga Vychod · 2017-11-26
Search all games of the Italian Game: Evans Gambit, Dufresne Defense and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- Losiv36 (2143) – linchctc (2101) 0-1 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
- Znamo_Delo (2146) – emyan (2093) 0-1 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
- HeriThomsen (2083) – Killer6 (2153) 0-1 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 2s
Comes from
Italian Game: Evans Gambit, Pierce Defense 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. b4 Bxb4 5. c3 Ba5 6. d4 exd4
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.