Italian Game: Evans Gambit, Stone-Ware Variation
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. b4 Bxb4 5. c3 Bd6
The Italian Game: Evans Gambit, Stone-Ware Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO C51, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. b4 Bxb4 5. c3 Bd6. 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 346 times by this move order. White won 48%, 4% were drawn and Black won 48%. The most popular continuation is 6. d4 (80% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.32 (Stockfish, depth 50; best line 6. d4 Nf6 7. O-O O-O 8. Re1 a6)
- ECO
- C51
- Moves
- 10 plies
- FEN
r1bqk1nr/pppp1ppp/2nb4/4p3/2B1P3/2P2N2/P2P1PPP/RNBQK2R w KQkq - 1 6- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. b4 Bxb4 5. c3 Bd6
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 48 | |
| 1500-1999 | 217 | |
| 2000+ | 81 | |
| All | 346 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 6. d4 | 276 (80%) | |
| 6. O-O | 46 (13%) | |
| 6. Qb3 | 24 (7%) |
Master games
183 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 42%, draw 18%, Black 40%). The strongest:
- GM Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu (2665) – GM Mateusz Bartel (2652) 0-1 · Bundesliga 2014-15 · 2014-10-18
- GM Sergei Zhigalko (2572) – GM M. Amin Tabatabaei (2643) 1/2-1/2 · Titled Tuesday 18th Jan · 2022-01-18
- IM Bogdan Belyakov (2487) – GM David Anton Guijarro (2650) 1/2-1/2 · World Blitz 2016 · 2016-12-30
- IM Mackenzie Molner (2479) – GM Robert Hess (2639) 1/2-1/2 · 40th Annual World Open · 2012-07-05
- IM Robert Aloma Vidal (2448) – GM Gawain C B Maroroa Jones (2652) 0-1 · Titled Tue 5th Jul Early · 2022-07-05
Search all games of the Italian Game: Evans Gambit, Stone-Ware Variation and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- Kirusha2005 (2397) – goranchess1 (2398) 0-1 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
- Unyen (2429) – Achmedov_Islam_777 (2354) 1-0 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 0s
- ozgur074 (2367) – goranchess1 (2371) 0-1 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Italian Game: Evans Gambit Accepted 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. b4 Bxb4
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.