C44

Scotch Game: Göring Gambit, Bardeleben Variation

Play any move on the board to explore from there, or step through the line with ‹ › and the arrow keys.

Statistics from Lichess

242,492 games: White 57.1% / Draw 4.0% / Black 38.9%

The moves played next. Pick one to see it on the board.
Next move	Games	White / Draw / BlackW / D / B
	106,981107K
	89,36489K
	12,25312K
	11,62312K
	6,7696,769
	5,3125,312
	3,7813,781
	2,2872,287

Rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, from the Lichess opening explorer, updated Oct 31, 2026

Engine evaluation

+0.10 The position is about equal

Best play: 7. e5 d5 8. exf6 dxc4 9. Qxd8+ Nxd8 10. fxg7 Rg8 11. Bh6 Bxc3+

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

By rating

Rating changes little here: Black scores 43% both under 1400 and at 2200 and up (wins plus half the draws).

Players	Games	White / Draw / BlackW / D / B
Under 1400	79K
1400–1799	181K
1800–2199	132K
2200 and up	15K
Masters, over the board	22

Master games

Ljubojevic, L. – Lombardy, W. J. ½–½, 1973
Zarnicki, P. – Sorokin, M. 1–0, 1994
Levy, D. N. L. – Karaklajic, N. 1–0, 1972
Sitnikov, A. – Aleksandrov, A. ½–½, 2022
Asmundsson, I. – Bessenay, M. ½–½, 1974

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

Scotch Game: Göring Gambit, Bardeleben Variation (ECO C44, Open Games) is a gambit in the Scotch Game: Göring Gambit, Double Pawn Sacrifice, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. c3 dxc3 5. Bc4 Nf6 6. Nxc3 Bb4 (6 moves).

In 242,492 rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, White won 57.1%, Black 38.9% and 4.0% were drawn. White's most played move here is 7. e5, in 44% of those games.

Written from the Lichess opening list and explorer. Know this line well? Write about it.

Write a description or report a mistake

What would you like to send? A description of this line A mistake on this page (moves, name, statistics…)

Markdown supported (headings ###, bold, lists, links). Submissions are reviewed before publishing.

Your name (optional) Your email (optional, not published)

Description

How to play against the Scotch Game: Göring Gambit, Bardeleben Variation

The most played answer, 7. e5, also scores best for White: 66.4%, with White winning 64.6% and Black 31.7% of 107K games. Of the main answers, 7. Qb3 scores lowest: 49.6%. Stockfish's first choice is also 7. e5.

Main answers: those played in at least 5% of these games. Score: White'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 Scotch Game: Göring Gambit, Bardeleben Variation has gained ground since 2016: 0.011% of Lichess games in 2025, up from 0.0084%.

0.0084%0.011%

Numbers by year

Year	Share of games	Games
2016	0.0084%	3,017
2017	0.0088%	4,842
2018	0.0089%	6,985
2019	0.0084%	10,436
2020	0.0082%	23,868
2021	0.0085%	33,398
2022	0.0086%	32,132
2023	0.0089%	33,609
2024	0.01%	36,780
2025	0.011%	39,354
2026 (Jan–Apr)	0.012%	13,415

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

Cite this page

Caissa Codex. “Scotch Game: Göring Gambit, Bardeleben Variation (C44)”. Lichess data as of 31 Oct 2026. https://chesscodex.org/openings/scotch-game-goring-gambit-bardeleben-variation