Italian Game: Evans Gambit, Slow Variation
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. b4 Bxb4 5. c3 Ba5 6. O-O
The Italian Game: Evans Gambit, Slow Variation 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. It is a line of the Italian Game. Black is to move. 3 named lines continue from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 425 times by this move order. White won 44%, 2% were drawn and Black won 54%. The most popular continuation is 6… Nf6 (52% of games).
Engine evaluation: −0.39 (Stockfish, depth 60; best line 6… Nf6 7. d4 O-O 8. dxe5 Nxe4 9. Bd5)
- ECO
- C52
- Moves
- 11 plies
- FEN
r1bqk1nr/pppp1ppp/2n5/b3p3/2B1P3/2P2N2/P2P1PPP/RNBQ1RK1 b kq - 2 6- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. b4 Bxb4 5. c3 Ba5 6. O-O
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 90 | |
| 1500-1999 | 277 | |
| 2000+ | 58 | |
| All | 425 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 6… Nf6 | 223 (52%) | |
| 6… d6 Evans Gambit (6. O-O d6) | 113 (27%) | |
| 6… Nge7 | 32 (8%) | |
| 6… Bb6 | 28 (7%) | |
| 6… h6 | 17 (4%) | |
| 6… Qf6 | 6 (1%) | |
| 6… Qe7 | 3 (1%) | |
| 6… a6 | 2 (0%) |
Master games
46 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 28%, draw 9%, Black 63%). The strongest:
- GM Magnus Carlsen (2830) – GM Viswanathan Anand (2751) 1-0 · Casablanca Chess 2024 · 2024-05-18
- GM Hikaru Nakamura (2795) – GM Bassem Amin (2683) 1-0 · Casablanca Chess 2024 · 2024-05-18
- WGM Aleksandra Maltsevskaya (2311) – GM Igor Lysyj (2605) 0-1 · TOP 16 Rapid GP Final · 2020-12-16
- GM Axel Bachmann (2604) – FM Andrei Ioan Trifan (2300) 0-1 · Titled Tue 6th Jun Early · 2023-06-06
- WIM Olga Zhuravleva (2278) – WGM Gulrukhbegim Tokhirjonova (2344) 1-0 · Women's Speed Chess Q7 · 2021-06-06
Search all games of the Italian Game: Evans Gambit, Slow Variation and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- blushingchepos (2441) – dang1234567 (2493) 1/2-1/2 · 2026-09-03 · 600 + 0s
- mohitswami1022 (2438) – MR_salamanka (2456) 1-0 · 2026-09-06 · 180 + 0s
- Yisushell (2410) – MR_salamanka (2482) 1-0 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Italian Game: Evans Gambit, Main Line 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. b4 Bxb4 5. c3 Ba5
Continuations
- Italian Game: Evans Gambit (6. O-O d6) C52 · 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. b4 Bxb4 5. c3 Ba5 6. O-O d6
- Italian Game: Evans Gambit, Anderssen Defense C52 · 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. b4 Bxb4 5. c3 Ba5 6. O-O Nf6 7. d4 exd4
- Italian Game: Evans Gambit, Richardson Attack C52 · 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
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.