Italian Game: Scotch Gambit, Max Lange Attack Accepted
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. O-O Nf6 5. d4 exd4 6. e5 d5 7. exf6 dxc4 8. Re1+ Be6 9. fxg7
The Italian Game: Scotch Gambit, Max Lange Attack Accepted is a chess opening classified as ECO C56, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. O-O Nf6 5. d4 exd4 6. e5 d5 7. exf6 dxc4 8. Re1+ Be6 9. fxg7. 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 23 times by this move order. White won 74%, 9% were drawn and Black won 17%. The most popular continuation is 9… Rg8 (100% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.04 (Stockfish, depth 44; best line 9… Rg8 10. Bg5 Be7 11. Bxe7 Qxe7 12. Nxd4)
- ECO
- C56
- Moves
- 17 plies
- FEN
r2qk2r/ppp2pPp/2n1b3/2b5/2pp4/5N2/PPP2PPP/RNBQR1K1 b kq - 0 9- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. O-O Nf6 5. d4 exd4 6. e5 d5 7. exf6 dxc4 8. Re1+ Be6 9. fxg7
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 1 | |
| 1500-1999 | 12 | |
| 2000+ | 10 | |
| All | 23 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 9… Rg8 | 23 (100%) |
Master games
13 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 62%, draw 15%, Black 23%). The strongest:
- GM Radoslav Dimitrov (2494) – GM Ivajlo Enchev (2409) 1-0 · 47th Georgi Tringov · 2025-08-05
- GM Pavel Ponkratov (2604) – Igor Pastukhov (2230) 1-0 · European Blitz 2015 · 2015-12-18
- IM Julio Javier Alonso Bouza (2417) – WGM Turkan Mamedjarova (2309) 1-0 · Titled Tuesday 19th May · 2020-05-19
- FM Sergey Mashkov (2301) – Alexander Lutsenko (2026) 1-0 · Moscow Open A 2016 · 2016-01-31
- Klim Perepelytsya-Melnyk (1867) – Andrei Nechaev (2286) 1/2-1/2 · The path to mastery 2025 · 2025-11-21
Highest-rated Lichess games
- FastCavalier (2577) – JustCallMeAdrian (2499) 1-0 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
- elregresodelaestaka (2423) – FM Giannatos (2489) 1-0 · 2026-09-06 · 180 + 0s
- elregresodelaestaka (2426) – Figurenklotz (2412) 0-1 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Italian Game: Deutz Gambit 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. O-O Nf6 5. d4
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: 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
- Italian Game: Giuoco Pianissimo, Lucchini Gambit 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.