Italian Game: Scotch Gambit, Max Lange Attack (5. O-O Bc5)

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Bc4 Nf6 5. O-O Bc5

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. d4 exd4 4. Bc4 Nf6 5. O-O Bc5. 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 739 times by this move order. White won 57%, 2% were drawn and Black won 41%. The most popular continuation is 6. e5 (58% of games).

Engine evaluation: +0.21 (Stockfish, depth 60; best line 6. e5 d5 7. exf6 dxc4 8. fxg7 Rg8)

ECO: C56
Moves: 10 plies
FEN: r1bqk2r/pppp1ppp/2n2n2/2b5/2BpP3/5N2/PPP2PPP/RNBQ1RK1 w kq - 4 6
PGN: 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Bc4 Nf6 5. O-O Bc5

Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess

Results by rating

Average rating	Games	White / draw / Black
0-1499	190	58%41%
1500-1999	433	55%43%
2000+	116	63%33%
All	739	57%41%

Most played moves

Move	Games	White / draw / Black
6. e5 Two Knights Defense, Max Lange Attack	429 (58%)	61%37%
6. c3	196 (27%)	56%41%
6. Re1	48 (6%)	40%58%
6. Bg5	37 (5%)	51%41%
6. Ng5	12 (2%)	33%67%
6. h3	5 (1%)	40%60%
6. Nbd2	3 (0%)	33%67%
6. b4	2 (0%)	50%50%

Master games

29 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 52%, draw 3%, Black 45%). The strongest:

Stockfish 20201225 (3592) – rofChade 2.309 (3423) 1-0 · TCEC 20 Premier 2020 · 2021-01-08
rofChade 2.309 (3423) – Stockfish 20201225 (3592) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 20 Premier 2020 · 2021-01-06
GM Aleksandra Goryachkina (2579) – IM Bojan Maksimovic (2468) 1-0 · Titled Tue 13th Sep Early · 2022-09-13
FM Sergey Jary (2275) – FM Georg Von Buelow (2361) 1-0 · Titled Tuesday 5th Oct · 2021-10-05
Ardit Uruci (1964) – GM Kiril Georgiev (2528) 0-1 · European Blitz 2025 · 2025-11-30

Search all games of the Italian Game: Scotch Gambit, Max Lange Attack and its sub-variations

Highest-rated Lichess games

RomChartres (2533) – FM ArdianJashari (2458) 1-0 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
A5Z (2462) – FM ArdianJashari (2435) 1-0 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 0s
Aleksandr_Smirnov-1 (2372) – FM SuperMishutka (2426) 0-1 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 2s

Comes from

Scotch Game: Scotch Gambit 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Bc4

Continuations

Italian Game: Two Knights Defense, Max Lange Attack C56 · 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Bc4 Nf6 5. O-O Bc5 6. e5

More Italian Game lines (all)

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.