Italian Game: Scotch Gambit, Anderssen Attack, Main Line
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. d4 exd4 5. O-O Nxe4 6. Re1 d5 7. Bxd5 Qxd5 8. Nc3 Qa5 9. Nxe4 Be6 10. Bd2 Qd5 11. Bg5
The Italian Game: Scotch Gambit, Anderssen Attack, Main Line is a chess opening classified as ECO C56, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. d4 exd4 5. O-O Nxe4 6. Re1 d5 7. Bxd5 Qxd5 8. Nc3 Qa5 9. Nxe4 Be6 10. Bd2 Qd5 11. Bg5. It is a line of the Italian Game. Black is to move.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 3 times by this move order. White won 67%, 0% were drawn and Black won 33%. The most popular continuation is 11… Bb4 (33% of games).
Engine evaluation: −0.07 (Stockfish, depth 37; best line 11… Bb4 12. c3 Bd6 13. Nxd4 Nxd4 14. Qxd4)
- ECO
- C56
- Moves
- 21 plies
- FEN
r3kb1r/ppp2ppp/2n1b3/3q2B1/3pN3/5N2/PPP2PPP/R2QR1K1 b kq - 4 11- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. d4 exd4 5. O-O Nxe4 6. Re1 d5 7. Bxd5 Qxd5 8. Nc3 Qa5 9. Nxe4 Be6 10. Bd2 Qd5 11. Bg5
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 2000+ | 3 | |
| All | 3 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 11… Bb4 | 1 (33%) | |
| 11… Be7 | 1 (33%) | |
| 11… Bd6 | 1 (33%) |
Master games
11 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 45%, draw 37%, Black 18%). The strongest:
- FM Dimitris Alexakis (2450) – GM Maxim Vavulin (2554) 1-0 · Euro Online +2300 Day 1 · 2020-05-29
- FM Dawid Janaszak (2308) – GM V Pranav (2611) 0-1 · Titled Tue 7th Nov Late · 2023-11-07
- GM Misa Pap (2382) – IM Rohith Krishna S (2410) 1/2-1/2 · FSGM March 2024 · 2024-03-07
- FM Evsuld Myagmarsuren (2292) – FM Bardur Orn Birkisson (2280) 1-0 · Titled Tue 10th Jun Early · 2025-06-10
- IM Stefan Cigan (2325) – FM Bostjan Markun (2233) 1/2-1/2 · 34th TCh-SLO 2024 · 2024-10-13
Highest-rated Lichess games
- Chesser_Koustuv (2375) – varvar12c (2394) 0-1 · 2026-09-03 · 600 + 0s
- guixgoliat (2309) – Ecade (2276) 1-0 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 2s
- SacFirstThinkLater (2069) – VolkhardH (2075) 1-0 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 2s
Comes from
Italian Game: Scotch Gambit, Anderssen Attack 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. d4 exd4 5. O-O Nxe4 6. Re1 d5 7. Bxd5 Qxd5 8. Nc3
More Italian Game lines (all)
- Italian Game C50
- Italian Game: Anti-Fried Liver Defense C50
- Italian Game: Blackburne-Kostić Gambit C50
- Italian Game: Classical Variation, Albin Gambit C50
- Italian Game: Deutz Gambit C50
- Italian Game: Giuoco Pianissimo (3… Bc5 4. d3) C50
- Italian Game: Giuoco Pianissimo (5… d6 6. d3) C50
- Italian Game: Giuoco Pianissimo (5. O-O O-O) C50
- Italian Game: Giuoco Pianissimo (5… O-O 6. d3) C50
- Italian Game: Giuoco Pianissimo, Canal Variation C50
- Italian Game: Giuoco Pianissimo, Dubois Variation C50
- Italian Game: Giuoco Pianissimo, Italian Four Knights Variation C50
Opening names and moves from the Lichess openings dataset; statistics from the Lichess open database, 2026-09 (CC0), sample of 12.6 million games, bots excluded; evaluations from Lichess cloud analysis (all CC0). Master games from The Week in Chess #920–#1664 by Mark Crowther, used with permission.