The Evans Gambit

One day, when Captain William Davies Evans was working on chess, he cracked his problem!

What problem? Well, he was in the works of making a new chess opening. But he couldn't seem to figure out a strong response to the Giuoco Piano opening. But finally, he found the answer: The Evans Gambit!

The Evans Gambit

Opening Moves

This is such a great opening! But how can you play it when you don't know how to get there? Well, this is the line to get you on your way to conquering chess with this marvelous opening!

The Evans Gambit took a hard blow, though, when players discovered a strong way to counter. After our setup is finished with  1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. b4 , they could respond with  d5. Gladly, this counter is not played much in higher levels, but IF your opponent knows the counter, you then play these moves!

I prefer white in this position, and it turns out that stockfish does too! That is why, even though the Evans Gambit is not used regularly between high level players, it is used sometimes. Bobby Fischer used it to win against Rueben Fine. It was even used to defeat Magnus Carlsen!

But, how do you actually play out the game with this opening? Well, let's see what the creator himself, Captain Evans, planned for this opening. We will also analyze one of the most romantic games: the Evergreen Game! This famous game used the Evans gambit. Coincidence? I think not! Let's see how these masters used this mighty weapon to defeat their opponents!

The Master Games

Would this be a complete blog about the Evans Gambit without seeing Captain Evans' first game with this opening? Of course not! (There is speculation about when his first game using this opening was, but I'm going with the most popular answer.) So, let's start off at the beginning. The year is 1827 in London. Evans vs. McDonnell. How did this game go?

Captain Evans used his newly made opening to win a sharp game! But even though he knew his technique, it was still yet to be perfected. Gradually, it was perfected and used by some of the best players to ever exist! Let's look at the most famous example: the Evergreen Game!

The diagram and words have been altered from this blog from chess.com: https://www.chess.com/terms/evergreen-game-chess

Wow! Great work Adolf Anderssen! We respect the hustle! There is so much we can learn from these master games! What are the key ideas? Well, blow up the center, castle very quickly, attack the f7 pawn with a Bishop-Queen battery, keep your opponent's King stuck in the center, and most importantly, keep the heat on. Don't lose that tempo you get when attacking the Bishop on move 4!

"But these are masters. They know what they're doing! I don't. Can I still play this opening?" Of course! I would like to show you a game I played with a guy who knows what he's doing! (I don't. Hehehehehehehehehehehehehe...  )

A Good Game from a Bad Player

I'm no master. I blunder terribly at times. The other day I hung my queen for free. But what I like about this opening is that my opponents do the defending, I just have to attack. And sure, I lose using this opening, and so will everyone, from a 2-year-old to Bobby Fischer! (He did lose a game while playing the Evans Gambit). But that is the case with every opening.

All you have to do is learn the lines, study the concepts, and practice! How did I use those concepts? Let's analyze what is perhaps my best attack ever.

My thoughts on this game: I am happy with my method of playing. Reviewing it, I could have done a few things better, but in general, I followed several attacking rules. I tried to make sure to not trade my pieces too much, and I advance my pieces into an active position on my opponents side, and not let them be passive.

In Conclusion...

In conclusion, the Evans Gambit is very powerful, full of attacking chances. Maximize it by attacking the weak spots in Black's position (mainly the f7 square), getting your King out of the center, Develop your pieces swiftly, and look for sacrifices. This way, you can turn up the heat with out getting burned!

I value your opinion very much, so please let me know in the comments how I can improve and what you thought of the blog. (Also, if you want to see a blog about another opening, you can comment which one as well.)

Credits go to chess.com for their blogs containing one of the diagrams. Check out their blog on The Evergreen Game here: https://www.chess.com/terms/evergreen-game-chess to learn more about it! Also, thank you to my dear friend @samuelxiao for playing with me (and whipping me), allowing me to use our game in the blog, and for being a great person.