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Italian Game: Scotch Gambit, Max Lange Attack Accepted

17/17
1.e4e52.Nf3Nc63.Bc4Bc54.O-ONf65.d4exd46.e5d57.exf6dxc48.Re1+Be69.fxg7
Live databaseLichess 1600–2000 · blitz + rapid
Italian Game: Scotch Gambit, Max Lange Attack Accepted40k games · Black to move
MoveWhite / draw / BlackPlayedGamesScore
100%40k43%
0.1%437%
0%190%
0%40%
0%333%
0%30%
0%1100%
0%10%
Famous games in this line15 master games
Harvey, Marcus R (2349) – Borisek, J. (2576)20181–0Dimitrov, R. (2494) – Enchev, I. (2409)20251–0Ponkratov, P. (2604) – Pastukhov, I. (2230)20151–0Kulhanek, Tomas (2441) – Sodoma, Jan (2376)20091–0Labra Carreno, Martin (2360) – Araya, Mario (2395)19920–1Konnyu, Janos (2316) – Hajnal, Zoltan (2400)2008½–½Caruso, Augusto (2247) – Diermair, Andreas (2432)20110–1Sammour Hasbun, Jorge E (2270) – Kreiman, Boris (2400)19930–1
Heroes of this opening Harvey, Marcus R · Dimitrov, R. · Ponkratov, P. · Kulhanek, Tomas
Family
Italian Game
Category
Open
First move
1.e4
ECO
C56
Line
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. O-O Nf6 5. d4 exd4 6. e5 d5 7. exf6 dxc4 8. Re1+ Be6 9. fxg7
GambitSharpAggressiveClassical
★ Read the guide: Italian GameExplore all 184 Italian Game lines →
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Nearby lines in the family
Italian Game: Evans Gambit, Morphy Attack4.b4 Bxb4 5.c3 Ba5 6.d4 exd4 …Italian Game: Giuoco Piano, Rosentreter Variation3…Nf6 4.O-O Bc5 5.d4 Bxd4 6.Nxd4 …Italian Game: Two Knights Defense, Paoli Variation3…Nf6 4.Ng5 d5 5.exd5 Na5 6.Bb5 …
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 ↗