Scotch Game: Alekhine Gambit
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. e5
The Scotch Game: Alekhine Gambit is a chess opening classified as ECO C45, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. e5. It is a line of the Scotch Game. Black is to move.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 323 times by this move order. White won 39%, 4% were drawn and Black won 57%. The most popular continuation is 5… Nxe5 (67% of games).
Engine evaluation: −0.57 (Stockfish, depth 48; best line 5… Nxe5 6. Qe2 Qe7 7. Bf4 d6 8. Nc3)
- ECO
- C45
- Moves
- 9 plies
- FEN
r1bqkb1r/pppp1ppp/2n2n2/4P3/3N4/8/PPP2PPP/RNBQKB1R b KQkq - 0 5- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. e5
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 257 | |
| 1500-1999 | 65 | |
| 2000+ | 1 | |
| All | 323 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 5… Nxe5 | 216 (67%) | |
| 5… Qe7 | 39 (12%) | |
| 5… Nd5 | 22 (7%) | |
| 5… Ne4 | 20 (6%) | |
| 5… Nxd4 | 14 (4%) | |
| 5… Ng8 | 7 (2%) | |
| 5… Ng4 | 2 (1%) | |
| 5… d5 | 1 (0%) |
Master games
4 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 25%, draw 0%, Black 75%). The strongest:
- FM Andres Delgado Kuffo (2320) – FM Daniel Taboas Rodriguez (2374) 0-1 · Titled Tue 25th Jul Late · 2023-07-25
- FM Andres Delgado Kuffo (2320) – CM Ali Elier (2162) 0-1 · Titled Tue 15th Oct Early · 2024-10-15
- Duc Minh Lai (2137) – CM Andres Carrasco Miranda (2210) 1-0 · 3rd 3-0 Thu 18th Dec 2025 · 2025-12-18
Search all games of the Scotch Game: Alekhine Gambit and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- Vladimir2991 (2054) – chessAleppo (2020) 1-0 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
- yahiasalah55b (1945) – taha1994 (2046) 0-1 · 2026-09-02 · 600 + 0s
- Kontario (1958) – NotAlpha0 (2014) 0-1 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Scotch Game: Schmidt Variation 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6
More Scotch Game lines (all)
- Scotch Game (2… Nc6 3. d4) C44
- Scotch Game (3. d4 exd4) C44
- Scotch Game: Benima Defense C44
- Scotch Game: Cochrane Variation C44
- Scotch Game: Cochrane-Shumov Defense C44
- Scotch Game: Göring Gambit 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
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.