The Evans Gambit is a chess opening characterised by the moves: 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. b4 The Evans Gambit is an aggressive line of the Giuoco Piano. White offers a pawn to divert the black bishop on c5. If Black accepts, White can follow up with c3 and d4, ripping open the , while also opening diagonals to play Ba3 or Qb3 at some point, preventing Black from castling and threatening the f7-pawn, respectively. If Black declines, the b4-pawn stakes out on the queenside, and White can follow up with a4 later in the game, potentially gaining a tempo by threatening to trap Black's . According to Reuben Fine, the Evans Gambit poses a challenge for Black since the usual defences (playing ...d6 and/or returning the gambit pawn) are more difficult to achieve than with other gambits. (Fine was once beaten by this gambit in a against Bobby Fischer, in just 17 moves.) The Encyclopaedia of Chess Openings has two codes for the Evans Gambit, C51 and C52. C51: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.b4 C52: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.b4 Bxb4 5.c3 Ba5 History The gambit is named after the Welsh sea captain, William Davies Evans, the first player known to have played it. The first game with the opening is considered to be Evans–McDonnell, London 1827, although in that game a slightly different move order was tried (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.0-0 d6 and only now 5.b4). In his monthly Chess Life column, Andrew Soltis commented that Evans was "the first player to be widely honored for an opening we know he played". The first analysis of the gambit was published in the Second Series of Progressive Lessons (1832) by William Lewis. The gambit became very popular and was played several times in the series of games between McDonnell and Louis de la Bourdonnais in 1834. Players including Adolf Anderssen, Paul Morphy and Mikhail Chigorin later took it up. The Evergreen Game won by Adolf Anderssen against Jean Dufresne opened with the Evans Gambit. Eventually, however, the second world chess champion Emanuel Lasker dealt a heavy blow to the opening with a modern defensive idea: returning the pawn under favourable circumstances. The opening was out of favour for much of the 20th century, although John Nunn and Jan Timman played it in some games in the late