Open · a plan for White
Italian Game: Scotch Gambit
9/9
1.e4e52.Nf3Nc63.Bc4Nf64.d4exd45.O-O
Live databaseLichess 1600–2000 · blitz + rapid
Italian Game: Scotch Gambit1.6M games · Black to move
MoveWhite / draw / BlackPlayedGamesScore
6.1%96k40%
1.3%21k40%
0.9%14k43%
0.8%12k33%
0.2%3.9k37%
0.1%1.6k32%
Famous games in this line1.0k master games
Dubov, Daniil (2710) – Giri, A.. (2764)Jones, G.. (2670) – So, W.. (2770)Savchenko, Boris (2632) – Karjakin, Sergey (2760)Wei Yi (2743) – Wen Yang (2605)Savchenko, Boris (2632) – Andreikin, Dmitry (2683)Grischuk, A. (2667) – Anton Guijarro, D. (2625)Rogers, Ian (2580) – Adams, Michael (2660)Savchenko, B. (2556) – Zvjaginsev, V. (2660)Heroes of this opening Jones, G.. · Savchenko, Boris · Andreikin, Dmitry
- Family
- Italian Game
- Category
- Open
- First move
- 1.e4
- ECO
- C56
- Line
- 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. d4 exd4 5. O-O
GambitClassical
★ Read the guide: Italian GameExplore all 184 Italian Game lines →Keep exploring
Go deeper — named lines from here
Italian Game: Scotch Gambit, Double Gambit Accepted5…Nxe4 · 3 deeper linesItalian Game: Scotch Gambit, Nakhmanson Gambit5…Nxe4 6.Nc3Italian Game: Two Knights Defense, Max Lange Attack, Krause Variation5…Bc5 6.e5 Ng4 7.c3Italian Game: Scotch Gambit, Anderssen Attack5…Nxe4 6.Re1 d5 7.Bxd5 Qxd5 8.Nc3 · 1 deeper line
Nearby lines in the family
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