Caissa Codex
C56

Italian Game: Scotch Gambit, Max Lange Attack, Long Variation

Chess diagram: Italian Game: Scotch Gambit, Max Lange Attack, Long Variation after 11. Nce4

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Statistics from Lichess

37,597 games: White 49.1% / Draw 5.2% / Black 45.7%

The moves played next. Pick one to see it on the board.
Next moveGamesWhite / Draw / BlackW / D / B
23,07523K
7,9537,953
2,9772,977
Italian Game: Two Knights Defense, Max Lange Attack, Rubinstein Variation 2,0402,040
513513
323323
284284
104104

Rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, from the Lichess opening explorer, updated Oct 13, 2026

Engine evaluation

+0.58 White is slightly better

Best play: 11... Bf8 12. Nxf7 Kxf7 13. Ng5+ Kg8 14. g4 Qg6 15. Rxe6 gxf6 16. Qf3

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

Overview

Italian Game: Scotch Gambit, Max Lange Attack, Long Variation (ECO C56, Open Games) is a gambit in the Italian Game: Two Knights Defense, Max Lange Attack, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Bc4 Nf6 5. O-O Bc5 6. e5 d5 7. exf6 dxc4 8. Re1+ Be6 9. Ng5 Qd5 10. Nc3 Qf5 11. Nce4 (11 moves).

In 37,597 rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, White won 49.1%, Black 45.7% and 5.2% were drawn. Black's most played move here is 11…O-O-O, in 61% of those games.

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How to play against the Italian Game: Scotch Gambit, Max Lange Attack, Long Variation

11…Bb6 scores best for Black: 51.1%, with Black winning 49.5% and White 47.2% of 7,953 games. The most played, 11…O-O-O, scores 48.7% in 23K games, and 11…gxf6 scores lowest: 40.8%. Stockfish's first choice is 11…Bf8.

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

Other lines from the same position

Instead of 6…d5 7. exf6 dxc4 8. Re1+ Be6 9. Ng5 Qd5 10. Nc3 Qf5 11. Nce4, the position after Italian Game: Two Knights Defense, Max Lange Attack also goes on to:

Transpositions

From here, a move transposes into another named line:

Cite this page

Caissa Codex. “Italian Game: Scotch Gambit, Max Lange Attack, Long Variation (C56)”. Lichess data as of 13 Oct 2026. https://chesscodex.org/openings/italian-game-scotch-gambit-max-lange-attack-long-variation

https://chesscodex.org/openings/italian-game-scotch-gambit-max-lange-attack-long-variation