Caissa Codex
C56

Italian Game: Scotch Gambit

Chess diagram: Italian Game: Scotch Gambit after 5. O-O

Type a move and press Enter: e4, Nf3, O-O, or from and to squares like g1f3 (e7e8q to promote). The board is also played with the mouse.

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Statistics from Lichess

1,874,265 games: White 51.6% / Draw 5.3% / Black 43.0%

The moves played next. Pick one to see it on the board.
Next moveGamesWhite / Draw / BlackW / D / B
Double Gambit Accepted 650,520651K
Italian Game: Scotch Gambit, Max Lange Attack 530,895531K
Italian Game: Scotch Gambit, Janowski Defense 331,391331K
Italian Game: Scotch Gambit, de Riviere Defense 194,665195K
103,300103K
21,93822K
15,10415K
12,72113K

Rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, from the Lichess opening explorer, updated Oct 29, 2026

Engine evaluation

−0.12 The position is about equal

Best play: 5... Nxe4 6. Re1 d5 7. Bxd5 Qxd5 8. Nc3 Qd7 9. Nxe4 Be7 10. Bg5

Stockfish 19, depth 30, after the line's last move. Scores are in pawns, from White's side.

By rating

The stronger the players, the worse this line does for White: White scores 57% under 1400, 51% at 2200 and up and 45% in master games (wins plus half the draws).

PlayersGamesWhite / Draw / BlackW / D / B
Under 1400 220K
1400–1799 757K
1800–2199 1.2M
2200 and up 259K
Masters, over the board 1,024

Master games

Rated blitz, rapid and classical Lichess games by rating band, and over-the-board games of players rated 2200+ from the Lichess masters database, updated Sep 27, 2026

Overview

Italian Game: Scotch Gambit (ECO C56, Open Games) is a gambit in the Scotch Game: Scotch Gambit, Dubois Réti Defense, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. d4 exd4 5. O-O (5 moves).

In 1,874,265 rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, White won 51.6%, Black 43.0% and 5.3% were drawn. Black's most played move here is 5…Nxe4, in 35% of those games.

It branches into 4 named variations; the most played are Italian Game: Scotch Gambit, Double Gambit Accepted and Italian Game: Two Knights Defense, Max Lange Attack, Krause Variation. In all, 7 named lines continue from it.

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How to play against the Italian Game: Scotch Gambit

The most played answer, 5…Nxe4 (Double Gambit Accepted), also scores best for Black: 51.2%, with Black winning 47.6% and White 45.1% of 651K games. Of the main answers, 5…d5 scores lowest: 39.7%. Stockfish's first choice is also 5…Nxe4.

Main answers: those played in at least 5% of these games. Score: Black's wins plus half the draws, in rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500. How to play against other popular openings

Popularity by year

The Italian Game: Scotch Gambit peaked in 2018 at 0.086% of Lichess games and has slipped since: 0.069% in 2025.

Numbers by year
YearShare of gamesGames
20160.079%28,231
20170.083%45,726
20180.086%67,407
20190.075%93,987
20200.085%250,025
20210.071%277,020
20220.071%264,907
20230.068%256,296
20240.069%245,746
20250.069%239,202
2026 (Jan–Apr)0.069%75,921

Share of rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500 (blitz, rapid and classical) that reach this position, by year; 2026: January to April. Which openings are rising and falling

Variations (4)

Other lines from the same position

Instead of 5. O-O, the position after Scotch Game: Scotch Gambit, Dubois Réti Defense also goes on to:

Transpositions

From here, a move transposes into another named line:

All 7 named lines that continue from here

Cite this page

Caissa Codex. “Italian Game: Scotch Gambit (C56)”. Lichess data as of 29 Oct 2026. https://chesscodex.org/openings/italian-game-scotch-gambit

https://chesscodex.org/openings/italian-game-scotch-gambit