Italian Game: Evans Gambit, Richardson Attack

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. b4 Bxb4 5. c3 Ba5 6. O-O Nf6 7. d4 O-O 8. Nxe5

Italian Game: Evans Gambit, Richardson Attack after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. b4 Bxb4 5. c3 Ba5 6. O-O Nf6 7. d4 O-O 8. Nxe5 87654321abcdefgh

The Italian Game: Evans Gambit, Richardson Attack 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. O-O Nf6 7. d4 O-O 8. Nxe5. 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: −0.45 (Stockfish, depth 34; best line 8… Nxe4 9. Nxf7 Rxf7 10. Bxf7+ Kxf7 11. d5)

ECO
C52
Moves
15 plies
FEN
r1bq1rk1/pppp1ppp/2n2n2/b3N3/2BPP3/2P5/P4PPP/RNBQ1RK1 b - - 0 8
PGN
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. b4 Bxb4 5. c3 Ba5 6. O-O Nf6 7. d4 O-O 8. Nxe5

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

Comes from

Italian Game: Evans Gambit, Slow Variation 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. b4 Bxb4 5. c3 Ba5 6. O-O

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.