Italian Game: Evans Gambit, Waller Attack
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. b4 Bxb4 5. c3 Ba5 6. d4 exd4 7. O-O d6 8. Qb3
The Italian Game: Evans Gambit, Waller 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. d4 exd4 7. O-O d6 8. Qb3. It is a line of the Italian Game. Black is to move.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 95 times by this move order. White won 55%, 2% were drawn and Black won 43%. The most popular continuation is 8… Qe7 (60% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.08 (Stockfish, depth 44; best line 8… Be6 9. Bxe6 fxe6 10. Nxd4 Bb6 11. Nxe6)
- ECO
- C52
- Moves
- 15 plies
- FEN
r1bqk1nr/ppp2ppp/2np4/b7/2BpP3/1QP2N2/P4PPP/RNB2RK1 b kq - 1 8- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. b4 Bxb4 5. c3 Ba5 6. d4 exd4 7. O-O d6 8. Qb3
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 7 | |
| 1500-1999 | 55 | |
| 2000+ | 33 | |
| All | 95 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 8… Qe7 | 57 (60%) | |
| 8… Qf6 | 14 (15%) | |
| 8… Qd7 | 14 (15%) | |
| 8… Be6 | 3 (3%) | |
| 8… Bxc3 | 2 (2%) | |
| 8… Ne5 | 2 (2%) | |
| 8… Nh6 | 1 (1%) | |
| 8… dxc3 | 1 (1%) |
Master games
27 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 67%, draw 11%, Black 22%). The strongest:
- GM Sergei Zhigalko (2572) – GM Avital Boruchovsky (2541) 0-1 · Titled Tuesday 10th Nov · 2020-11-10
- GM Sergei Zhigalko (2572) – GM Avital Boruchovsky (2536) 1-0 · Titled Tue 17th Oct Early · 2023-10-17
- GM Sergei Zhigalko (2572) – IM Rahman Mohammad Fahad (2409) 1-0 · Titled Tue 22nd Feb Early · 2022-02-22
- IM Anastasia Bodnaruk (2423) – WGM Karina Ambartsumova (2379) 1-0 · ch-RUS Blitz Women 2018 · 2018-10-07
- FM Mateo Ivic (2215) – FM Teo Tomulic (2372) 0-1 · 31st TCh-CRO Div 1b 2023 · 2023-10-15
Search all games of the Italian Game: Evans Gambit, Waller Attack and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- Unyen (2434) – blitz32only (2394) 0-1 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
- deserving-athlete (2345) – LostInTheWorld_1 (2359) 0-1 · 2026-09-06 · 180 + 0s
- Asantysana254 (2300) – Jieng (2316) 1-0 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 0s
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.