Italian Game: Scotch Invitation Declined
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. d4 d6
The Italian Game: Scotch Invitation Declined is a chess opening classified as ECO C56, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. d4 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 1,055 times by this move order. White won 54%, 4% were drawn and Black won 42%. The most popular continuation is 5. dxe5 (51% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.47 (Stockfish, depth 57; best line 5. d5 Nb8 6. Nc3 Be7 7. Qe2 c6)
- ECO
- C56
- Moves
- 8 plies
- FEN
r1bqkb1r/ppp2ppp/2np1n2/4p3/2BPP3/5N2/PPP2PPP/RNBQK2R w KQkq - 0 5- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. d4 d6
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 540 | |
| 1500-1999 | 468 | |
| 2000+ | 47 | |
| All | 1,055 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 5. dxe5 | 533 (51%) | |
| 5. d5 | 162 (15%) | |
| 5. O-O | 111 (11%) | |
| 5. Ng5 | 105 (10%) | |
| 5. Bg5 | 42 (4%) | |
| 5. Nc3 | 35 (3%) | |
| 5. c3 | 26 (2%) | |
| 5. h3 | 12 (1%) |
Master games
29 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 55%, draw 11%, Black 34%). The strongest:
- GM Praggnanandhaa R (2768) – GM Daniil Dubov (2674) 0-1 · FIDE World Cup 2025 · 2025-11-13
- GM Pavel Ponkratov (2608) – GM Daniil Dubov (2710) 0-1 · Dvoretsky Mem Blitz 2023 · 2023-12-09
- GM Martyn Kravtsiv (2598) – GM Daniil Dubov (2708) 1/2-1/2 · Airthings Masters Div 2 W · 2023-02-06
- FM Serdar Murat Yildiz (2373) – GM Rudik Makarian (2535) 0-1 · 2nd 3-0 Thu 12th Feb 2026 · 2026-02-12
- Jakob Noennig (2156) – FM Torben Knuedel (2372) 1/2-1/2 · 7th Bamberg Open 2025 · 2025-09-04
Search all games of the Italian Game: Scotch Invitation Declined and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- Yaponets (2573) – PawnsTractorist (2583) 1-0 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
- Caminante2020 (2173) – funnygarden (2344) 1-0 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
- Alfilgoods (2231) – Rifki87 (2225) 0-1 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Italian Game: Two Knights Defense, Open Variation 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. 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: 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.