Scotch Game (3. d4 exd4)
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4
The Scotch Game is a chess opening classified as ECO C44, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4. White is to move. 4 named lines continue from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 200,749 times by this move order. White won 52%, 5% were drawn and Black won 43%. The most popular continuation is 4. Nxd4 (61% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.04 (Stockfish, depth 62; best line 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nxc6 bxc6 6. Nc3 Bb4)
- ECO
- C44
- Moves
- 6 plies
- FEN
r1bqkbnr/pppp1ppp/2n5/8/3pP3/5N2/PPP2PPP/RNBQKB1R w KQkq - 0 4- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 84,298 | |
| 1500-1999 | 102,299 | |
| 2000+ | 14,152 | |
| All | 200,749 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 4. Nxd4 Scotch Game (3… exd4 4. Nxd4) | 122,999 (61%) | |
| 4. Bc4 Scotch Gambit | 45,486 (23%) | |
| 4. Ng5 | 18,968 (9%) | |
| 4. c3 Göring Gambit | 11,832 (6%) | |
| 4. e5 | 379 (0%) | |
| 4. Bb5 Relfsson Gambit | 365 (0%) | |
| 4. Bd3 | 203 (0%) | |
| 4. Qxd4 | 142 (0%) |
Master games
24 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 25%, draw 17%, Black 58%). The strongest:
- GM Ian Nepomniachtchi (2784) – GM Maksim Chigaev (2588) 1/2-1/2 · Titled Tuesday 29th Sept · 2020-09-29
- GM Hao Wang (2732) – GM Jun Zhao (2634) 1/2-1/2 · TCh-CHN 2016 · 2016-11-01
- IM Mads Vestby-Ellingsen (2360) – Vittorio Cina` (2233) 1-0 · Titled Tue 27th Aug Early · 2024-08-27
- Aziz Degenbaev (2242) – FM Tykhon Cherniaiev (2278) 0-1 · Titled Tue 10th Oct Early · 2023-10-10
- CM Marcel Winkels (1883) – GM Ngoc Truong Son Nguyen (2600) 0-1 · 3rd 3-0 Thu 25th Jun 2026 · 2026-06-25
Highest-rated Lichess games
- Nana_jede_cevape (2891) – NM Andrey11976 (2793) 0-1 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 0s
- Nana_jede_cevape (2879) – NM Andrey11976 (2804) 0-1 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 0s
- kuhmft (2855) – vistagusta (2827) 0-1 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Scotch Game (2… Nc6 3. d4) 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4
Continuations
- Scotch Game (3… exd4 4. Nxd4) C45 · 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Nxd4
- Scotch Game: Göring Gambit C44 · 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. c3
- Scotch Game: Relfsson Gambit C44 · 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Bb5
- Scotch Game: Scotch Gambit C44 · 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Bc4
More Scotch Game lines (all)
- Scotch Game: Benima Defense C44
- Scotch Game: Cochrane Variation C44
- Scotch Game: Cochrane-Shumov Defense C44
- Scotch Game: Göring Gambit, Bardeleben Variation C44
- Scotch Game: Göring Gambit, Double Pawn Sacrifice C44
- Scotch Game: Göring Gambit, Main Line C44
- Scotch Game: Hanneken Variation C44
- Scotch Game: Haxo Gambit C44
- Scotch Game: Lolli Variation (3. d4 Nxd4) C44
- Scotch Game: Lolli Variation (4… exd4 5. Qxd4) C44
- Scotch Game: Napoleon Gambit C44
- Scotch Game: Scotch Gambit, Advance Variation C44
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.