Scotch Game: Scotch Gambit, Dubois Réti Defense
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Statistics from Lichess
5,504,305 games: White 50.0% / Draw 4.7% / Black 45.3%
| Next move | Games | White / Draw / BlackW / D / B |
|---|---|---|
| Scotch Game: Scotch Gambit, Advance Variation | 2,485,3882.5M | |
| Italian Game: Scotch Gambit | 1,874,9781.9M | |
| 502,211502K | ||
| Italian Game: Two Knights Defense, Perreux Variation | 348,469348K | |
| 187,611188K | ||
| 68,32268K | ||
| 14,39514K | ||
| 9,2199,219 |
Rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, from the Lichess opening explorer, updated Oct 23, 2026
Engine evaluation
0.00 The position is about equal
Best play: 5. e5 d5 6. Bb5 Ne4 7. Nxd4 Bd7 8. Bxc6 bxc6 9. O-O Be7
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 better this line does for Black: Black scores 46% under 1400, 49% at 2200 and up and 52% in master games (wins plus half the draws).
| Players | Games | White / Draw / BlackW / D / B |
|---|---|---|
| Under 1400 | 1.5M | |
| 1400–1799 | 3.3M | |
| 1800–2199 | 3.1M | |
| 2200 and up | 585K | |
| Masters, over the board | 3,824 |
Master games
- Carlsen, M. – So, W.
- Carlsen, M. – Le, Q. L.
- Shevchenko, K. – Carlsen, M.
- Duda, J. – Aronian, L.
- Nepomniachtchi, I. – Vachier Lagrave, M.
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 26, 2026
Overview
Scotch Game: Scotch Gambit, Dubois Réti Defense (ECO C44, Open Games) is a gambit in the Italian Game: Two Knights Defense, Open Variation, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. d4 exd4 (4 moves).
In 5,504,305 rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, White won 50.0%, Black 45.3% and 4.7% were drawn. White's most played move here is 5. e5, in 45% of those games.
It branches into 4 named variations; the most played are Italian Game: Scotch Gambit and Italian Game: Scotch Gambit, Max Lange Attack. In all, 12 named lines continue from it.
Written from the Lichess opening list and explorer. Know this line well? Write about it.
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How to play against the Scotch Game: Scotch Gambit, Dubois Réti Defense
5. Ng5 (Italian Game: Two Knights Defense, Perreux Variation) scores best for White: 55.1%, with White winning 52.9% and Black 42.6% of 348K games. The most played, 5. e5, scores 51.4% in 2.5M games, and 5. Nxd4 scores lowest: 49.5%. Stockfish's first choice is 5. 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: Scotch Gambit, Dubois Réti Defense has stayed between 0.21% and 0.23% of Lichess games a year since 2016 (0.21% in 2025).
Numbers by year
| Year | Share of games | Games |
|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 0.21% | 74,859 |
| 2017 | 0.22% | 123,805 |
| 2018 | 0.23% | 179,959 |
| 2019 | 0.21% | 266,613 |
| 2020 | 0.23% | 661,354 |
| 2021 | 0.21% | 802,338 |
| 2022 | 0.21% | 777,803 |
| 2023 | 0.21% | 784,878 |
| 2024 | 0.21% | 755,726 |
| 2025 | 0.21% | 741,038 |
| 2026 (Jan–Apr) | 0.22% | 245,207 |
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)
Transpositions
All 12 named lines that continue from here
- C56 Italian Game: Scotch Gambit 5 moves
- C56 Italian Game: Scotch Gambit, Max Lange Attack 6 moves
- C56 Italian Game: Two Knights Defense, Perreux Variation 5 moves
- C44 Scotch Game: Scotch Gambit, Kingside Variation 5 moves
- C56 Double Gambit Accepted 5 moves
- C56 Italian Game: Two Knights Defense, Keidansky Variation 9 moves
- C56 Italian Game: Two Knights Defense, Max Lange Attack, Berger Variation 13 moves
- C56 Italian Game: Two Knights Defense, Max Lange Attack, Krause Variation 7 moves
- C56 Italian Game: Two Knights Defense, Max Lange Attack, Rubinstein Variation 11 moves
- C56 Italian Game: Scotch Gambit, Anderssen Attack 8 moves
- C56 Italian Game: Scotch Gambit, Nakhmanson Gambit 6 moves
- C56 Main Line 11 moves
Cite this page
Caissa Codex. “Scotch Game: Scotch Gambit, Dubois Réti Defense (C44)”. Lichess data as of 23 Oct 2026. https://chesscodex.org/openings/scotch-game-scotch-gambit-dubois-reti-defense