Italian Game: Scotch Gambit, Nakhmanson Gambit
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. d4 exd4 5. O-O Nxe4 6. Nc3
The Italian Game: Scotch Gambit, Nakhmanson Gambit 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. Nc3. 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 93 times by this move order. White won 42%, 4% were drawn and Black won 54%. The most popular continuation is 6… Nxc3 (51% of games).
Engine evaluation: −0.86 (Stockfish, depth 55; best line 6… dxc3 7. Bxf7+ Kxf7 8. Qd5+ Kf6 9. Re1)
- ECO
- C56
- Moves
- 11 plies
- FEN
r1bqkb1r/pppp1ppp/2n5/8/2Bpn3/2N2N2/PPP2PPP/R1BQ1RK1 b kq - 1 6- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. d4 exd4 5. O-O Nxe4 6. Nc3
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 5 | |
| 1500-1999 | 29 | |
| 2000+ | 59 | |
| All | 93 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 6… Nxc3 | 47 (51%) | |
| 6… dxc3 | 37 (40%) | |
| 6… d5 | 8 (9%) |
Master games
104 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 46%, draw 13%, Black 41%). The strongest:
- FM Marco Riehle (2380) – GM Andrey Esipenko (2677) 0-1 · Titled Tue 22nd Oct Late · 2024-10-22
- FM Marco Riehle (2368) – GM Maxim Matlakov (2674) 1-0 · Titled Tue 12th Sep Late · 2023-09-12
- FM Marco Riehle (2380) – GM Aryan Tari (2637) 1/2-1/2 · Titled Tue 2nd Jul Late · 2024-07-02
- FM Marco Riehle (2347) – GM Gawain C B Maroroa Jones (2670) 0-1 · Titled Tuesday 27th Apr · 2021-04-27
- FM Marco Riehle (2353) – GM Aryan Tari (2656) 1-0 · Titled Tue 20th Sep Late · 2022-09-20
Search all games of the Italian Game: Scotch Gambit, Nakhmanson Gambit and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- MoUcHeSs0707 (2495) – Bilinmez0101 (2490) 1-0 · 2026-09-06 · 180 + 0s
- deft17 (2456) – Pushka_strashnaya (2495) 0-1 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 2s
- jrivelli1993 (2446) – joeALT30 (2448) 0-1 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Italian Game: Scotch Gambit, Double Gambit Accepted 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. d4 exd4 5. O-O Nxe4
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.