Italian Game: Scotch Gambit, Max Lange Attack (6. Bb5 Ne4)
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. d4 exd4 5. e5 d5 6. Bb5 Ne4
The Italian Game: Scotch Gambit, Max Lange Attack is a chess opening classified as ECO C56, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. d4 exd4 5. e5 d5 6. Bb5 Ne4. It is a line of the Italian Game. White is to move. 1 named line continues from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 565 times by this move order. White won 45%, 5% were drawn and Black won 50%. The most popular continuation is 7. Nxd4 (82% of games).
Engine evaluation: 0.00 (Stockfish, depth 60; best line 7. Nxd4 Bd7 8. Bxc6 bxc6 9. O-O Bc5)
- ECO
- C56
- Moves
- 12 plies
- FEN
r1bqkb1r/ppp2ppp/2n5/1B1pP3/3pn3/5N2/PPP2PPP/RNBQK2R w KQkq - 2 7- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. d4 exd4 5. e5 d5 6. Bb5 Ne4
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 30 | |
| 1500-1999 | 298 | |
| 2000+ | 237 | |
| All | 565 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 7. Nxd4 | 464 (82%) | |
| 7. O-O | 53 (9%) | |
| 7. Qxd4 | 26 (5%) | |
| 7. Bxc6+ | 20 (4%) | |
| 7. Qe2 | 1 (0%) | |
| 7. Nbd2 | 1 (0%) |
Master games
976 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 42%, draw 18%, Black 40%). The strongest:
- GM Magnus Carlsen (2864) – GM Quang Liem Le (2728) 1/2-1/2 · FTX Crypto Cup 2022 · 2022-08-18
- GM Ian Nepomniachtchi (2767) – GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (2721) 1/2-1/2 · 11th Sinquefield Cup · 2024-08-19
- GM Magnus Carlsen (2856) – GM Eric Hansen (2613) 1-0 · Aimchess Rapid Prelim · 2022-10-14
- GM Pavel Ponkratov (2641) – GM Fabiano Caruana (2792) 0-1 · Chess.com Rapid Wk3 Swiss · 2022-02-27
- GM Gawain C B Maroroa Jones (2670) – GM Alireza Firouzja (2728) 1/2-1/2 · Titled Tuesday 20th Oct · 2020-10-20
Search all games of the Italian Game: Scotch Gambit, Max Lange Attack and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- tsnylsw (2763) – FM Crew12 (2711) 1-0 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 0s
- GM JThybo (2613) – Kobe130416 (2564) 1-0 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 2s
- CM Mikkel_Vinh (2688) – FM ArdianJashari (2485) 1-0 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Scotch Game: Scotch Gambit, Dubois Réti Defense 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. d4 exd4
Continuations
- Italian Game: Two Knights Defense, Keidansky Variation C56 · 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. d4 exd4 5. e5 d5 6. Bb5 Ne4 7. Nxd4 Bc5 8. Nxc6 Bxf2+ 9. Kf1 Qh4
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.