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The Evans gambit is named after Captain William Evans from the 19th century. The gambit is an aggressive line for white in the otherwise “quiet game” of the Giuoco Piano. Generally, it’s a gambit that needs to be accepted by black, as it’s worse to decline the gambit. However, for the capture of the pawn, white now has a potential lead in development and can immediately launch an attack for the centre. The goal for the player of the black pieces, me in this game, is to try to hold onto the material advantage – something that isn’t necessarily easy to do!

I don’t usually play Evans Gambit as when playing with the white pieces, as I prefer the Vienna game. However, it is fairly popular and have played against it a few times as black. I was happy with my performance in this game, and usually, I play Anderssen variation, also know as “Lasker’s Defence” after accepting the gambit by retreating the bishop to e7. This isn’t the most popular response to the Evans gambit accepted and as such, might catch some Evans gambit players off guard. The insight here is to try to learn one line that you can control well!

I hope you enjoyed the video, and thanks for watching!

Game on chess.com: https://www.chess.com/game/live/31984828003

[Event "Live Chess"]
[Site "Chess.com"]
[Date "2021.11.29"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Garbo2112"]
[Black "vitualis"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C51"]
[WhiteElo "1124"]
[BlackElo "1162"]
[TimeControl "1800"]
[EndTime "20:42:27 PST"]
[Termination "vitualis won by resignation"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. b4 Bxb4 5. c3 Be7 6. d4 exd4 7. cxd4 Bb4+ 8. Bd2 Bxd2+ 9. Qxd2 Nge7 10. Qf4 O-O 11. Ng5 d5 12. exd5 Nxd5 13. Bxd5 Qxd5 14. O-O Qxd4 15. Qxd4 Nxd4 16. Nc3 c6 17. Rad1 Nb5 18. Nce4 Bf5 19. Nd6 Nxd6 20. Rxd6 Rad8 21. Rfd1 Rxd6 22. Rxd6 h6 23. Nf3 a5 24. h3 a4 25. Nd4 Be4 26. f3 Bd5 27. a3 Kh7 28. Rd7 c5 29. Rxd5 cxd4 30. Rxd4 b5 31. Rd5 Rb8 32. Rd7 f6 33. g4 b4 34. Rd4 b3 35. Rxa4 b2 0-1