Italian Game: Scotch Gambit, Janowski Defense
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Bc4 Nf6 5. O-O d6
The Italian Game: Scotch Gambit, Janowski Defense is a chess opening classified as ECO C56, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Bc4 Nf6 5. O-O d6. It is a line of the Italian Game. White is to move.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 388 times by this move order. White won 48%, 6% were drawn and Black won 46%. The most popular continuation is 6. Nxd4 (55% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.41 (Stockfish, depth 55; best line 6. Nxd4 Be7 7. Nc3 O-O 8. a4 Re8)
- ECO
- C56
- Moves
- 10 plies
- FEN
r1bqkb1r/ppp2ppp/2np1n2/8/2BpP3/5N2/PPP2PPP/RNBQ1RK1 w kq - 0 6- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Bc4 Nf6 5. O-O d6
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 49 | |
| 1500-1999 | 231 | |
| 2000+ | 108 | |
| All | 388 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 6. Nxd4 | 215 (55%) | |
| 6. c3 | 56 (14%) | |
| 6. Re1 | 49 (13%) | |
| 6. e5 | 26 (7%) | |
| 6. Bg5 | 18 (5%) | |
| 6. Ng5 | 15 (4%) | |
| 6. h3 | 8 (2%) | |
| 6. Bf4 | 1 (0%) |
Master games
156 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 38%, draw 19%, Black 43%). The strongest:
- GM Sarunas Sulskis (2490) – GM Santosh Gujrathi Vidit (2716) 0-1 · 2nd Bundesliga West 23-24 · 2023-12-03
- GM Miguel Illescas Cordoba (2614) – IM Tomas Sosa (2548) 1/2-1/2 · BICAPAWN Xacobeo GP B2 · 2022-10-20
- GM Mariya Muzychuk (2559) – GM Antoaneta Stefanova (2476) 1/2-1/2 · World Blitz Women 2019 · 2019-12-30
- FM Marco Riehle (2358) – GM Alexey Sarana (2668) 0-1 · Titled Tue 17th Jan Early · 2023-01-17
- IM Ernesto J. Fernandez Guillen (2401) – GM Raunak Sadhwani (2620) 0-1 · Titled Tue 13th Sep Early · 2022-09-13
Search all games of the Italian Game: Scotch Gambit, Janowski Defense and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- GM BIZOO (2775) – Con_Knuppel (2613) 0-1 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 0s
- cumicumiterbang (2419) – IRFANHARITHROSLI (2429) 1-0 · 2026-09-06 · 600 + 0s
- OstavaisaSoboi (2582) – ODIN1971 (2199) 1-0 · 2026-09-01 · 240 + 0s
Comes from
Scotch Game: Scotch Gambit 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Bc4
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.