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Scotch Game

What is the Scotch Game?

The Scotch Game is a chess opening that begins with 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4. It is classified under ECO C44–C45 and has 53 named variations. White chooses it with the move d4.

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Moves: 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4

ECO: C44–C45

Chosen by: White

Main variations

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Scotch Game C44
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4
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Lolli Variation C44
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 Nxd4
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Scotch Game C45
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Nxd4
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Göring Gambit C44
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. c3
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Relfsson Gambit C44
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Bb5
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Scotch Gambit C44
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Bc4

All 53 variations

ECOVariationMoves
C44Main line1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4
C44Main line1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4
C44Lolli Variation1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 Nxd4
C45Main line1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Nxd4
C44Göring Gambit1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. c3
C44Relfsson Gambit1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Bb5
C44Scotch Gambit1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Bc4
C44Benima Defense1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Be7 4. d4 exd4
C45Classical Variation1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Nxd4 Bc5
C44Haxo Gambit1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Bc4 Bc5
C45Malaniuk Variation1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Nxd4 Bb4+
C45Schmidt Variation1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6
C44Scotch Gambit, Dubois Réti Defense1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. d4 exd4
C44Scotch Gambit, Göring Gambit Declined1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. c3 d5
C44Scotch Gambit, London Defense1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Bc4 Bb4+
C45Steinitz Variation1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Nxd4 Qh4
C45Alekhine Gambit1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. e5
C45Braune Variation1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Nxd4 Qh4 5. Be3
C45Fraser Variation1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Nxd4 Qh4 5. Nf3
C44Göring Gambit, Double Pawn Sacrifice1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. c3 dxc3 5. Bc4
C45Horwitz Attack1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Nxd4 Qh4 5. Nb5
C44Lolli Variation1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 Nxd4 4. Nxd4 exd4 5. Qxd4
C44Napoleon Gambit1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 Nxd4 4. Nxd4 exd4 5. Bc4
C45Paulsen Variation1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Nxd4 Qh4 5. Nf5
C45Potter Variation1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Nxd4 Bc5 5. Nb3
C44Scotch Gambit, Advance Variation1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Bc4 Nf6 5. e5
C44Scotch Gambit, Sarratt Variation1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Bc4 Bc5 5. Ng5
C45Steinitz Variation1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Nxd4 Qh4 5. Nc3
C45Classical Variation, Intermezzo Variation1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Nxd4 Bc5 5. Nxc6 Qf6
C44Göring Gambit, Main Line1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. c3 dxc3 5. Nxc3 Bb4
C45Modern Defense1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Nxd4 Qh4 5. Nc3 Bb4
C45Romanishin Variation1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Nxd4 Bc5 5. Nb3 Bb4+
C44Scotch Gambit, Kingside Variation1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. d4 exd4 5. e5 Ng4
C45Main line1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Nxd4 Qh4 5. Nb5 Bb4+ 6. Bd2
C45Blumenfeld Attack1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Nxd4 Bc5 5. Be3 Qf6 6. Nb5
C45Ghulam-Kassim Variation1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Nxd4 Nxd4 5. Qxd4 d6 6. Bd3
C45Mieses Variation1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nxc6 bxc6 6. e5
C45Tartakower Variation1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nxc6 bxc6 6. Nd2
C44Vitzthum Attack1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Bc4 Bc5 5. Ng5 Nh6 6. Qh5
C45Classical Variation, Millennium Variation1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Nxd4 Bc5 5. Be3 Qf6 6. c3 Qg6
C44Göring Gambit, Bardeleben Variation1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. c3 dxc3 5. Bc4 Nf6 6. Nxc3 Bb4
C44Scotch Gambit, Cochrane-Anderssen Variation1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Bc4 Bc5 5. O-O d6 6. c3 Bg4
C45Classical Variation, Blackburne Attack1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Nxd4 Bc5 5. Be3 Qf6 6. c3 Nge7 7. Qd2
C44Cochrane Variation1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Bc4 Bb4+ 5. c3 dxc3 6. bxc3 Ba5 7. e5
C45Meitner Variation1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Nxd4 Bc5 5. Be3 Qf6 6. c3 Nge7 7. Nc2
C45Paulsen Attack1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Nxd4 Bc5 5. Be3 Qf6 6. c3 Nge7 7. Bb5
C45Paulsen, Gunsberg Defense1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Nxd4 Bc5 5. Be3 Qf6 6. c3 Nge7 7. Bb5 Nd8
C45Horwitz Attack, Blackburne Variation1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Nxd4 Qh4 5. Nb5 Bb4+ 6. Bd2 Qxe4+ 7. Be2 Kd8 8. O-O Bxd2 9. Qxd2
C44Cochrane-Shumov Defense1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Bc4 Bc5 5. Ng5 Nh6 6. Nxf7 Nxf7 7. Bxf7+ Kxf7 8. Qh5+ g6 9. Qxc5 d5
C44Hanneken Variation1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Bc4 Bb4+ 5. c3 dxc3 6. O-O cxb2 7. Bxb2 Nf6 8. Ng5 O-O 9. e5 Nxe5
C45Rosenthal Variation1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Nxd4 Qh4 5. Nb5 Bb4+ 6. Bd2 Qxe4+ 7. Be2 Kd8 8. O-O Bxd2 9. Nxd2 Qg6
C44Sea-Cadet Mate1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. c3 dxc3 5. Nxc3 d6 6. Bc4 Bg4 7. O-O Ne5 8. Nxe5 Bxd1 9. Bxf7+ Ke7 10. Nd5#
C45Gottschall Variation1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Nxd4 Bc5 5. Be3 Qf6 6. c3 Nge7 7. Qd2 d5 8. Nb5 Bxe3 9. Qxe3 O-O 10. Nxc7 Rb8 11. Nxd5 Nxd5 12. exd5 Nb4

How to learn an opening

Learn the ideas before the moves: where the pieces go, which pawn breaks matter and what the typical middlegame plans are. Then play it, and after each game look up the point where you or your opponent left the known moves. MentoChess shows that point automatically for every game you import.

Opening lessons: Three golden opening rules · Scholar’s mate and how to stop it · Italian Game: plans, not just moves · Answering 1.d4: the Queen’s Gambit Declined · Meeting the Sicilian with 2.c3 · From moves to structures

Other openings starting 1. e4

Sicilian DefenseRuy LopezFrench DefenseItalian GameKing's Gambit AcceptedCaro-Kann DefenseAlekhine DefenseKing's Gambit DeclinedPetrov's DefenseFour Knights GameScandinavian DefensePhilidor Defense