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The Evans Gambit is a very interesting opening that comes out of the Italian Game. I don’t usually play the Italian when I have the white pieces, so when I encounter the Evans Gambit, I’m usually defending against it. Yesterday, my opponent played a really interesting and trappy line. I ultimately lost the game, but when I analysed the game afterwards, their moves had some really interesting qualities where one wrong move could have resulted in a potential checkmate line!

What I found fascinating in this game is that although the computer evaluation reckoned that I was quite a bit ahead, around -2, right after I survived the attack by bishop, knight, and queen, it certainly didn’t feel like I was winning! My king side defenses were damaged having lost three of four pawns, I had lost the right to castle, and the opponent had a commanding control of the centre with their pawns! Indeed, although I may have been theoretically ahead, it was a difficult position to play. I often replay positions during analysis with one of the chess.com bots rated at around 1200 to explore possibilities. Usually, I win without much difficulty but I repeatedly lost against the bot from this position! If you play the Italian, the Evans Gambit is definitely well worth trying out!

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

Game on chess.com: https://www.chess.com/game/live/39746352917

[Event "Live Chess"]
[Site "Chess.com"]
[Date "2022.02.27"]
[Round "?"]
[White "TdizzIe"]
[Black "vitualis"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C51"]
[WhiteElo "1407"]
[BlackElo "1303"]
[TimeControl "1800"]
[EndTime "16:38:20 PST"]
[Termination "TdizzIe won by checkmate"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. b4 Bxb4 5. c3 Be7 6. d4 Na5 7. Bxf7+ Kxf7 8. Nxe5+ Ke8 9. Qh5+ g6 10. Nxg6 Nf6 11. Qxa5 hxg6 12. e5 b6 13. Qb5 c6 14. Qd3 Rg8 15. exf6 Bxf6 16. O-O a5 17. Re1+ Kf7 18. d5 Ba6 19. Qf3 Bb7 20. Bg5 cxd5 21. c4 Bc6 22. cxd5 Bb5 23. Nc3 Bc4 24. Ne4 Bxd5 25. Bxf6 Qxf6 26. Qxf6+ Ke8 27. Nd6# 1-0