Open · a plan for White

Italian Game: Scotch Gambit, Canal Variation

13/13
1.e4e52.Nf3Nc63.d4exd44.Bc4Nf65.O-ONxe46.Re1d57.Nc3
Live databaseLichess 1600–2000 · blitz + rapid
Italian Game: Scotch Gambit, Canal Variation9.6k games · Black to move
MoveWhite / draw / BlackPlayedGamesScore
44%4.2k46%
41%3.9k54%
7.3%70454%
4%38134%
2.1%20235%
0.7%7221%
0.6%5440%
0.4%4033%
0.1%917%
0.1%911%
Famous games in this line44 master games
Van Wijgerden, Cor (2425) – Jussupow, Artur (2555)19821–0Blatny, Pavel (2415) – Smejkal, Jan (2550)19860–1Sulskis, S. (2528) – Krivonosov, O. (2411)2019½–½Maciejewski, Andrzej (2470) – Vogt, Lothar (2440)19740–1Tishin, Petr (2445) – Varavin, Viktor (2445)20011–0Basagic, Zlatko (2372) – Mikhalchishin, Adrian (2512)20040–1Calvo Minguez, Ricardo (2460) – Rubinetti, Jorge Alberto (2415)19740–1Euler, Gerd (2380) – Ragozin, Evgeni (2480)19980–1
Heroes of this opening Van Wijgerden, Cor · Smejkal, Jan · Vogt, Lothar · Tishin, Petr
Family
Italian Game
Category
Open
First move
1.e4
ECO
C56
Line
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Bc4 Nf6 5. O-O Nxe4 6. Re1 d5 7. Nc3
GambitClassical
★ Read the guide: Italian GameExplore all 184 Italian Game lines →
Keep exploring
Nearby lines in the family
Italian Game: Giuoco Piano, Greco's Attack3.Bc4 Bc5 4.c3 Nf6 5.d4 exd4 …Italian Game: Giuoco Piano, Cracow Variation3.Bc4 Bc5 4.c3 Nf6 5.d4 exd4 …Italian Game: Evans Gambit, Tartakower Attack3.Bc4 Bc5 4.b4 Bxb4 5.c3 Ba5 …
From the archives

The Italian Game appears in the Göttingen manuscript (c. 1500) and in Polerio's notebooks — chess players have been putting the bishop on c4 for more than five hundred years. It fell out of top-level fashion for decades, then came back as White players went looking for a way round the Berlin Defence; Carlsen used the quiet Giuoco Pianissimo in the 2016 world-championship match.

Study this opening
Videos on YouTube ↗Wikipedia: Italian Game ↗