Italian Game: Evans Gambit, Mortimer-Evans Gambit

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. b4 Bxb4 5. c3 Bc5 6. d4 exd4 7. O-O d6 8. cxd4 Bb6 9. Nc3 Bg4 10. Qa4 Bd7 11. Qb3 Na5 12. Bxf7+ Kf8 13. Qc2 Kxf7

The Italian Game: Evans Gambit, Mortimer-Evans Gambit is a chess opening classified as ECO C51, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. b4 Bxb4 5. c3 Bc5 6. d4 exd4 7. O-O d6 8. cxd4 Bb6 9. Nc3 Bg4 10. Qa4 Bd7 11. Qb3 Na5 12. Bxf7+ Kf8 13. Qc2 Kxf7. It is a line of the Italian Game. White 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: −0.92 (Stockfish, depth 28; best line 14. e5 h6 15. d5 Kf8 16. Ne4 Bf5)

ECO

C51

Moves

26 plies

FEN

r2q2nr/pppb1kpp/1b1p4/n7/3PP3/2N2N2/P1Q2PPP/R1B2RK1 w - - 0 14

PGN

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. b4 Bxb4 5. c3 Bc5 6. d4 exd4 7. O-O d6 8. cxd4 Bb6 9. Nc3 Bg4 10. Qa4 Bd7 11. Qb3 Na5 12. Bxf7+ Kf8 13. Qc2 Kxf7

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

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.