The Evans Gambit
Overview
The Evans Gambit is a chess opening in which the following moves are played:
The idea behind the Evans Gambit is: White sacrifices a pawn with b2-b4, in order to achieve a lead in development and quickly control the center.
Often, White gets back the pawn with an advantage, or reaches a good position with lots of compensation for the pawn.
The Evans Gambit can be divided into four major variations. Black’s first choice is whether to take this pawn (Evans Gambit Accepted) or not (Evans Gambit Declined).
The four major variations are:
- Evans Gambit Declined
- Evans Gambit Accepted: Stone-Ware Defense
- Evans Gambit Accepted: Lasker’s Defense
- Evans Gambit Accepted: Main line
In the Evans Gambit Declined, Black drops the Bishop back. This is not a very ambitious idea, since White can make the move b4 useful by expanding on the Queenside with the a-pawn as well, making the Bishop feel uncomfortable on b6.
However, it is a solid setup, and many Evans Gambit players fail to prepare against this variation.
In the Evans Gambit Accepted: Stone-Ware Defense, Black drops the Bishop back to d6. This might seem like an awkward square for the Bishop, since it blocks the d-pawn, but one of Black’s weaknesses in the position is the e5 pawn. By playing the Bishop to d6, the e5 pawn is reinforced, so this is a solid variation.
In the Evans Gambit Accepted: Lasker’s Defense, Black goes for a quiet retreat of the Bishop, namely to e7.
It is a safe variation that many strong players have employed in their games with success. It avoids the heavy theoretical main line while giving Black interesting chances.
In the main line of the Evans Gambit Accepted, Black moves the Bishop to a5. The main idea behind this move is to pin White’s pawn on c3, which is unpleasant, since White will want to expand in the center with d4.
What is The Evans Gambit?
The Evans Gambit is a chess opening that leads to open games. White sacrifices a pawn with very interesting and sharp play.
You can see what it looks like below.
How To Reach The Evans Gambit
- First, White must move the King’s pawn two squares (1.e4).
- Then, Black’s reply should be to move his King’s pawn two squares as well (1...e5).
- In return, White develops his Knight (2.Nf3). This move attacks Black’s pawn on e5.
- Black develops his own Knight and defends the pawn on e5 (2...Nc6).
- White brings out the Bishop to an active square (3.Bc4).
- Black develops his Bishop as well (3...Bc5).
- White sacrifices a pawn and we reach the Evans Gambit (4.b4).
Take a look at the moves below.
Why Play The Evans Gambit
The Evans Gambit is a sharp opening, that is played by beginners and Grandmasters.
By sacrificing a pawn in the opening, White forces Black’s Bishop to move and gains time to quickly develop his pieces and take control over the central area of the board.
This opening is perfect for attacking players and it can surely catch many unprepared opponents who don’t know how to defend against all the threats.
Every move explained
Evans Gambit Declined
How To Reach It
The Evans Gambit Declined appears on the board after the following moves:
- e4 e5
- Nf3 Nc6
- Bc4 Bc5
- b4 Bb6
You can see the moves here.
Why play the Evans Gambit Declined
The Evans Gambit Declined is a quiet and sensible option. Black retreats with the Bishop to avoid losing more time by being forced to move it around.
Although it is not the most ambitious option for Black, it is a great way to avoid the heavy theory of the main line.
White's Moves
Expand on the Queenside with a4
The fact that Black has not taken the pawn on b4 with his Bishop allows White to make good use of this move.lish attack.
White’s plan is to play f3, Qd2 and then possibly create a kingside pawnstorm.
Play Nc3 followed by Nd5
Black’s Bishop on b6 can be a target, and White wants to develop his pieces as quickly as possible.
For that reason, one of White’s main plans is to bring a Knight to d5, from where it will attack the Bishop on b6 and also be placed in a central square.
Black's moves
Create a safe place for the Bishop with a6
Black’s Bishop is not ideally placed on b6, and one of White’s main plans will be to chase it with the Queenside pawns.
For this reason, and before anything else, Black should open up a safe square for this Bishop by moving the pawn from a7 to a6.
Develop the Knight to f6 and attack the e4 pawn
Black must focus on rapidly completing his development, and one of the top priorities is to bring out the Knight so he can castle Kingside, in order to protect the King and connect the Rooks.
The best square for this Knight is f6, from where it looks at the center and targets the e4 pawn.
Evans Gambit Accepted: Stone-Ware Defense
How To Reach It
The Evans Gambit Accepted: Stone-Ware Defense appears on the board after the following moves.
- e4 e5
- Nf3 Nc6
- Bc4 Bc5
- b4 Bxb4
- c3 Bd6
You can see the moves here.
Why play the Evans Gambit Accepted: Stone-Ware Defense
Black’s idea is to retreat the Bishop to a safe square, where it cannot be attacked anymore. On d6, the Bishop also offers extra protection to the potential weakness on e5. This line is not commonly played, which means that many players of the Evans Gambit may be caught off guard.
White's Moves
Expand in the center with d4
One of White’s main ideas in the Evans Gambit is to control the central squares. The move c3 has forced the Bishop to move, but it also has the important function of supporting the d2-d4 advance.
Play Qb3 to target the pawn on f7
One of the most effective plans for White is to move the Queen to b3. Freeing this square for the Queen is another advantage of the early move c3 that White has played, and together with the Bishop on c4, the Queen can target the weakest point in Black’s position.
Black's moves
Play Na5 to chase the Bishop away
The Bishop on c4 can create many dangerous threats to Black’s position.
For this reason, one of Black’s main plans should be to drive this Bishop away, and the most straightforward way of doing so is by playing the Knight to a5.
Play Nf6 to attack the pawn on e4
One of the most noticeable weaknesses in White’s position is the pawn on e4. Since there is a pawn on c3, the Knight cannot go to that square to defend the pawn, and usually White will want to control the center with d4, which means that he won’t be able to protect the pawn with d2-d3 either.
For this reason, one of Black’s best ideas is to play a natural developing move such as Nf6, while also targeting the pawn on e4.
Evans Gambit Accepted: Lasker’s Defense
How To Reach It
The Evans Gambit: Nb4 Variation appears on the board after the following moves:
- e4 e5
- Nf3 Nc6
- Bc4 Bc5
- b4 Bxb4
- c3 Be7
You can see the moves here.
Why play the Evans Gambit Accepted: Lasker’s Defense
The idea behind retreating the Bishop to e7 is to place it in a safe square, away from the threats of White’s central pawns.
This is a quiet and solid variation, very similar to the Stone-Ware Defense - the main difference is that the Bishop on e7 allows Black to protect the pawn on e5 with the move d7-d6, which is one of the main ideas.
White's Moves
Expand in the center with d4
Once again, one of White’s main ideas in the Evans Gambit is to control the central squares. The move c3 has forced the Bishop to move, but it also has the important function of supporting the d2-d4 advance.
Play Qb3 to target the pawn on f7
Similarly to the Stone-Ware Defense, one of the most effective plans for White is to move the Queen to b3.
Freeing this square for the Queen is another advantage of the early move c3 that White has played, and together with the Bishop on c4, the Queen can target the weakest point in Black’s position.
This plan is even more effective in the Lasker’s Defense, because Black does not have the e7 square for the Queen to protect the pawn on f7.
Black's moves
Play d6 to support the pawn on e5
The main idea behind placing the Bishop on e7 instead of d6 is to free the way for the d-pawn to protect the pawn on e5.
Play Na5 to attack the Bishop on c4
In most lines of the Evans Gambit, the Bishop on c4 is White’s best piece.
That’s why Black should try to chase the Bishop away from the a2-g8 diagonal, namely by playing the move Na5.
Evans Gambit Accepted: Main line
How To Reach It
The Evans Gambit Accepted: Main line appears on the board after the following moves:
- e4 e5
- Nf3 Nc6
- Bc4 Bc5
- b4 Bxb4
- c3 Ba5
You can see the moves here.
Why play the Evans Gambit Accepted: Main line
The main idea behind the move Ba5 is to pin the pawn on c3.
This is important because White wants to play d4 in order to take over the center. Black would capture on d4, and ideally White would like to recapture with the pawn in order to maintain a strong pawn center.
However, with the pawn on c3 being pinned to the King, this is not possible.
This variation has been heavily studied and it’s generally considered to be Black’s best way of facing the Evans Gambit.
White's Moves
Play d4 followed by 0-0
The fact that the pawn on c3 is pinned makes White’s life more difficult, but it’s not enough to prevent him from playing d2-d4 anyway.
However, White must be wary of some tactical ideas in this position: instead of recapturing with a piece on d4, which would ruin the pawn structure, White can castle and threaten to play Qb3, attacking the pawn on f7.
You can see the moves down below.
Play Qb3 followed by d5
The major setback of the main line for Black is that he can’t move the Knight to a5 to chase the Bishop away from c4 and prevent the Queen from going to b3.
In fact, one of the main plans for Black is to move the Bishop to b6 in order to free this square for the Knight. However, before he has the chance to do so, White can gain space with the central push d4-d5, forcing the Knight to move to a different square and no longer have access to a5.
Black's moves
Play d6 to secure the pawn on e5
The pawn on e5 is one of Black’s biggest weaknesses in the Evans Gambit.
For this reason, one of Black’s priorities should be to play d6. This move is also useful because it allows the Bishop on c8 to come out into the game at some point.
Play Bb6 to free the a5 square for the Knight
Although the Bishop on a5 does the wonderful job of pinning the pawn on c3, eventually Black would like to place a Knight on this square in order to attack the Bishop on c4 (and potentially the Queen on b3).
For this reason, one of Black’s main plans is to retreat the Bishop to b6 in the right moment, allowing the Knight to improve its position.
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