Scandinavian Defense: Portuguese Gambit, Elbow Variation
1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Nf6 3. d4 Bg4 4. Bb5+ c6
The Scandinavian Defense: Portuguese Gambit, Elbow Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO B01, reached after 1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Nf6 3. d4 Bg4 4. Bb5+ c6. It is a line of the Scandinavian Defense. White is to move.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 46 times by this move order. White won 65%, 2% were drawn and Black won 33%. The most popular continuation is 5. dxc6 (89% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.69 (Stockfish, depth 38; best line 5. dxc6 Qa5+ 6. Nc3 Nxc6 7. Ne2 e6)
- ECO
- B01
- Moves
- 8 plies
- FEN
rn1qkb1r/pp2pppp/2p2n2/1B1P4/3P2b1/8/PPP2PPP/RNBQK1NR w KQkq - 0 5- PGN
1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Nf6 3. d4 Bg4 4. Bb5+ c6
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 3 | |
| 1500-1999 | 18 | |
| 2000+ | 25 | |
| All | 46 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 5. dxc6 | 41 (89%) | |
| 5. f3 | 3 (7%) | |
| 5. Be2 | 2 (4%) |
Master games
82 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 60%, draw 11%, Black 29%). The strongest:
- GM Sergei Zhigalko (2572) – FM Dushyant Sharma (2416) 1-0 · Titled Tue 15th Mar Early · 2022-03-15
- GM Sergei Zhigalko (2572) – IM Levy Rozman (2334) 1-0 · Titled Tue 26th Apr Early · 2022-04-26
- GM Sergei Zhigalko (2572) – IM Levy Rozman (2322) 1-0 · Titled Tue 4th Oct Late · 2022-10-04
- GM Marcin Krzyzanowski (2519) – IM Dushyant Sharma (2357) 1-0 · Titled Tue 9th Jan Early · 2024-01-09
- CM Andrzej Krzywda (2234) – GM Yasser Quesada Perez (2578) 1-0 · Titled Tue 5th Dec Late · 2023-12-05
Highest-rated Lichess games
- JelenaZ (2590) – GolfeDuMorbihan (2683) 1-0 · 2026-09-06 · 180 + 0s
- LaYucaReyChess (2433) – The_king66 (2436) 0-1 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 0s
- ChessCoach2027 (2410) – Gougnoux06 (2450) 0-1 · 2026-09-01 · 600 + 0s
Comes from
Scandinavian Defense: Portuguese Gambit 1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Nf6 3. d4 Bg4
More Scandinavian Defense lines (all)
- Scandinavian Defense (1. e4 d5) B01
- Scandinavian Defense (1… d5 2. b3) B01
- Scandinavian Defense: Anderssen Counterattack B01
- Scandinavian Defense: Anderssen Counterattack, Collijn Variation B01
- Scandinavian Defense: Anderssen Counterattack, Goteborg System B01
- Scandinavian Defense: Anderssen Counterattack, Orthodox Attack B01
- Scandinavian Defense: Blackburne Gambit B01
- Scandinavian Defense: Blackburne-Kloosterboer Gambit B01
- Scandinavian Defense: Boehnke Gambit B01
- Scandinavian Defense: Bronstein Variation B01
- Scandinavian Defense: Classical Variation B01
- Scandinavian Defense: Grünfeld Variation B01
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.