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Italian Game: Scotch Gambit, Max Lange Attack, Spielmann Defense

12/12
1.e4e52.Nf3Nc63.d4exd44.Bc4Nf65.O-OBc56.e5Ng4
Live databaseLichess 1600–2000 · blitz + rapid
Italian Game: Scotch Gambit, Max Lange Attack, Spielmann Defense444k games · White to move
MoveWhite / draw / BlackPlayedGamesScore
28%125k66%
28%123k63%
19%83k58%
Italian Game: Two Knights Defense, Max Lange Attack, Krause Variation7.3%32k65%
5.9%26k63%
4.9%22k60%
4.3%19k47%
1.4%6.1k45%
1%4.6k70%
0.1%56851%
Famous games in this line9 master games
De Dovitiis, A. (2327) – Krysa, L. (2517)20170–1Volovikov, Anton (2324) – Budnikov, Oleg (2442)20110–1Pirrot, Dieter (2410) – Thinius, Marco (2310)19971–0Leygue, Dominique (2221) – Flear, Glenn C (2489)20011–0Belyakov, Bogdan (2375) – Myshkin, Nikita (2268)20120–1Campos, Jose Felix (2255) – Juarez, Alberto (2265)19921–0Gayson, Peter (2257) – Yeo, Michael J (2251)2003½–½Rozman, Edo (2210) – Markun, Bostjan (2265)19961–0
Heroes of this opening Krysa, L. · Budnikov, Oleg · Pirrot, Dieter · Leygue, Dominique
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 Bc5 6. e5 Ng4
GambitSharpAggressiveClassical
★ Read the guide: Italian GameExplore all 184 Italian Game lines →
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Nearby lines in the family
Italian Game: Evans Gambit, Pierce Defense3.Bc4 Bc5 4.b4 Bxb4 5.c3 Ba5 …Italian Game: Evans Gambit, Bronstein Defense3.Bc4 Bc5 4.b4 Bxb4 5.c3 Ba5 …Italian Game: Evans Gambit, Laroche Variation3.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
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