1.e4e52.Nf3Nc63.Bc4Bc5The evans gambit is a gambit that branches out of the Italian Game. White sacrifices the b2 pawn for a tempo, a strong center, and a very tactical game. The Evans is likely one of the most commonly played gambits in chess.4.b4Bxb45.c3...Here white is now down a pawn, but is ready to strike aggressively in the center with moves like d4. White can also play moves like Qb3 or Ng5 to place pressure on the weak f7 pawn. White is leading in development, and is ready to castle and play moves such as Ba3 to prevent black from castling.
The 2 most common moves here are Ba5 and Be7. All other bishop retreats for black are inferior, so I will only go over these 2 variations.5....Ba55...Be7If Be7, we can now take control of the center and dominate for the rest of the game.6.d4Na57.Bd36.d4...Here, black can either take the pawn or try and hold on to their center with d6.6....exd46...d67.Qb3White places pressure on f7. Black has 2 moves to defend, Qe7 and Qd7. One of them is a blunder.Qe7The blunder.(7...Qd7The better move, but black still needs to play very presicely.8.dxe5dxe59.O-OBb6A powerful move, threatening Na5 to remove our Queen-Bishop Battery.10.Rd1Qe711.a4Preparing for an incredible tactic.Na512.Bxf7+Qxf7(12...Kf8The move a4 was preparing for Kf8, so we can now play Qa2 and save our queen.13.Qa2Qxf7Black still cannot take out bishop14.Rd8+)13.Rd8+Black cannot take the rook because we would then capture blacks queen.Ke714.Bg5+Nf615.Qxf7+Kxf716.Rxh8White is now up a rook.)8.d5Nb89.Qb5+White forks the king and bishop, and will be up in material7.O-O...Notice that the c3 pawn is pinned, so we need to castle.7....Nge7The most common move in Ne7, where white follows up with the aggressive Ng5.7...dxc3If black gets greedy and takes more material...8.Qb3Qe79.Nxc3Nf610.Nd5Nxd511.exd5Ne512.Nxe5Qxe513.Bb2White has finished development with a very strong possition.8.Ng5O-OCastling is clearly not an option after Qh5.8...Ne5Here if black plays Ne5, white has a nice tactic to follow.9.Qxd4Nxc410.Qxg7Rf811.Nxh7So many checkmate threats! The only way to escape mate is Ng6, which loses the queen after Bg59.Qh5h610.Nxf7...Black either loses the exchange or loses the game :)10....Qe811.Nxh6+Kh812.Nf7+Kg813.Qh8#