 Around 1825-1826, on shore leave in London, Evans played Alexander McDonnell, beating the latter with what is now regarded in chess circles as the first creation of the Evans Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.b4).His most famous invention was the tri-coloured lighting on naval vessels designed to prevent collisions at night.For this invention he was awarded £1500 by the British government and a gold chronometer and £200 from the Tsar of Russia.