The Evans Gambit
A pawn, offered on move four to a bishop that has to take it, for two tempi and the biggest centre in the Italian Game. Step through the main line, then play it yourself.
Last updated
- First moves
- 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. b4
- ECO
- C51
- Best for
- White
- Style
- Aggressive
- Theory
- Moderate
- Level
- Intermediate
The Evans Gambit is 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.b4, and it is the clearest bargain in chess: one pawn, paid on move four, for two moves of time and the right to build a pawn centre before Black has castled.
The pawn is not really the point. The bishop on c5 is guarding d4, and every way Black deals with 4.b4 involves moving it or spending time on it. Once it stops watching d4, White plays c3 and d4 and owns the middle of the board.
The main line
The Evans Gambit Accepted - the pawn, the tempo, the centre. Step through all thirteen moves.
Now play it. You are White, from move four.
You are White in an ordinary Italian Game. Play the gambit: offer the pawn, hit the bishop, take the centre, castle.
When Black gets greedy
After 7.O-O the pawn on d4 is still hanging and c3 is loose behind it. Some opponents will take twice. That second pawn costs the game.
7...dxc3? and the punishment - a double attack, a kick, and every piece arriving at once.
The trap you must not fall for
The Evans player's own trap is on move five, and it catches the White player who is enjoying the pawn storm too much. Black declines with 4...Bb6, keeping the bishop on the good diagonal. The natural-looking 5.b5 throws the whole gambit away.
You are White. Find the move that keeps the initiative.
Black declined with 4...Bb6. Keep gaining time - one pawn move does it, and one throws the gambit away.
The plans, for both sides
White's plans. Build the centre and open it: c3, d4, and then the recapture on d4 that gives you two pawns abreast. Castle early, put the queen on b3 where it joins the bishop against f7, and get the dark-squared bishop to a3 or g5 - the pin on a knight that cannot move is often the move that ends the game. Never allow the position to go quiet: with a pawn less, a trade of queens is a losing move.
Black's plans. Give the pawn back at the right moment. The modern recipes - the Lasker defence 5...Be7, and ...d6 followed by ...Na5 hitting the c4-bishop - all aim at the same thing: swap off White's attacking pieces and reach a middlegame where the extra pawn is a real one. Castling early matters more than usual, and so does watching f7 on every single move.
The patterns are the Italian's, sharpened: the fork on c7 and f7 that a knight reaching d5 threatens, the pin on the e7-knight after Ba3, and castling as an attacking move rather than a safe one.
The quiet version of this position is the Italian Game; for a gambit that pays even earlier and asks even more, see the King's Gambit.
Try it
An ordinary Italian Game, move four. Play the gambit.
The Evans Gambit is the fastest lesson in chess on what time is worth. Play it for a month and you will never again count material without counting tempi first. The lessons take it from there - into the attacks these positions were built for.
Common questions
- What is the Evans Gambit?
- The opening 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.b4, an Italian Game in which White offers the b-pawn to deflect Black's bishop. If Black takes, 5.c3 hits the bishop again and 6.d4 builds a full pawn centre with tempo. It was introduced by the Welsh sea captain William Davies Evans in 1827 and dominated attacking chess for the next fifty years.
- Is the Evans Gambit sound?
- Yes, in the practical sense that matters. Engines assess the main lines as roughly balanced with correct defence, which is a good result for a gambit - and 'correct defence' here means a dozen precise moves Black has to find over the board. Kasparov played it against Anand in 1995 and won in 25 moves. It is not a refutation-proof opening; it is one where the defender's job is much harder than the attacker's.
- What happens if Black declines the Evans Gambit?
- 4...Bb6 is the main way to decline, keeping the bishop on the a7-g1 diagonal and refusing to help White develop. White should answer 5.a4! - the point is a4-a5, hitting the bishop again. What White must NOT play is 5.b5?, which drives the knight to a5 where it attacks the c4-bishop, and the tempo the whole gambit was paying for evaporates.
- Should Black take the pawn?
- Taking is principled and playable - a pawn is a pawn, and the modern verdict is that Black is fine after 5...Ba5 or the Lasker defence 5...Be7. What loses is taking twice: 7...dxc3? grabs a second pawn and runs into 8.Qb3!, hitting f7 and the loose bishop at the same time, with the whole White army about to arrive.
- Is the Evans Gambit good for beginners?
- It is a superb teaching opening and a demanding tournament one. Every idea in it - gaining time by attacking a piece, trading material for development, opening lines toward an uncastled king - is one a beginner needs, and they are all visible on the board rather than hidden in theory. But you are a pawn down from move four, so a game that goes quiet is a game you are losing.
- How is the Evans Gambit different from the Italian Game?
- It is a variation of it. Both start 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5; the Italian's quiet main lines continue 4.c3 or 4.d3 and build slowly, while the Evans plays 4.b4 and buys the same centre two moves earlier for the price of a pawn. If you play the Italian, the Evans is the sharp weapon already inside it.
Ideas this opening runs on:
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