ok, why do you move the b pawn out? i see where you could use the moving of the knight or bishop to attempt to gain control of the center with your d pawn, but when the bishop moves in it checks you and allows itself to just move right back. i have no resources on opening theory so i have a hard time understanding why this is such a good move, im guessing it must be for reasons that i dont yet understand and it might have nothing to do with allowing you to move the d pawn into the center. so whats the deal?
also, who is evan?
edit: well, the bishop doesnt check you, but it pins the d pawn
"Captain William Davies Evans (1790-1872), a sea captain who commanded the Royal Mail steam packet from Milford Haven to Waterford, thought of the gambit in 1826 or 1827 on leave in London, to try it out. In William Lewis's Chess Rooms in St Martin's Lane he played the first game against Alexander McDonnell, an Irishman not to be confused with George Allcock MacDonnell who was not born till 1830. Evans, son of a Welsh farmer, remained with he postal service till about 1840 when he retired. He travelled widely, frequented the chess haunts of London and became a personality in the chess world, being invited by Staunton to be his second for the famous 1843 Amant match in Paris. he captain was unable to accept5, but in 1845 he was one of the team which took part in the first game of chess played by electric telegraph.
Nor was his fame confined to chess; he had the distinction of being the inventor of the three colour system of ships' lighting. This system became almost universal among European navies...
Evans died at Estend in 1872. His gambit was espoused by A. McDonnell, as a surprise weapon in his epic series of encounters of more than 80 games with French Champion La Bourdonnais in 1834 and 1835. The first game of the second match, the 26th in the series, saw the international debut of 4 b4."--Harding, Cafferty--Play the Evans Gambit.
"Hooray for Captain Evans, the opening explorer!"--Groucho Marx
You play b4 to control the center fasters since if the bishop takes you play c3 and once it moves you can play d4 and if he takes then you can take back with the c pawn having 2 center pawns, of course considering the tactics, pins, etc... Its all about the tempo. I have some games which i played using this strategy if you want to have a look. You can find some info about it on jeremy silmans website. Just search in yahoo or google but i think its
www.jemerysilman.com
Originally posted by knapsterThat's an absolute blood-bath.
Game 1138262 This is why I love Evan's Gambit