Scotch Game: Braune Variation
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Nxd4 Qh4 5. Be3
The Scotch Game: Braune Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO C45, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Nxd4 Qh4 5. Be3. 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 50 times by this move order. White won 52%, 6% were drawn and Black won 42%. The most popular continuation is 5… Qxe4 (82% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.12 (Stockfish, depth 34; best line 5… Nf6 6. Nb5 Bb4+ 7. Nd2 Ba5 8. g3)
- ECO
- C45
- Moves
- 9 plies
- FEN
r1b1kbnr/pppp1ppp/2n5/8/3NP2q/4B3/PPP2PPP/RN1QKB1R b KQkq - 2 5- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Nxd4 Qh4 5. Be3
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 15 | |
| 1500-1999 | 32 | |
| 2000+ | 3 | |
| All | 50 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 5… Qxe4 | 41 (82%) | |
| 5… Nxd4 | 3 (6%) | |
| 5… Nf6 | 3 (6%) | |
| 5… Bc5 | 2 (4%) | |
| 5… Bb4+ | 1 (2%) |
Master games
7 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 29%, draw 0%, Black 71%). The strongest:
- FM Artur Dilmukhametov (2276) – FM Vilmos Balint (2283) 0-1 · Titled Tue 27th Sep Early · 2022-09-27
- Simon R Edwards (1945) – Dominique Myers (2132) 0-1 · London Classic Open 2015 · 2015-12-09
- Antoine Toussaint (2001) – Gabriel Fernandes Barbosa Dos Santos (2062) 0-1 · 37th Geneva Open 2025 · 2025-06-08
- Pedro Vargas (2029) – WCM Bera Hernandez (1772) 0-1 · Battle of Boyaca 200 Open · 2019-08-02
- Ricardo Andres Lopez (2020) – Aarony Miguel Paula Valerio (1727) 1-0 · Subzonal 2.3.2 2025 · 2025-04-14
Search all games of the Scotch Game: Braune Variation and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- hpm59 (2101) – salai-vinnavan (2118) 1/2-1/2 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 2s
- ShinelaMagic (2097) – SkydiverReturns (2025) 1-0 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
- Farhadfallah5734 (2029) – Joachim1976 (1998) 1-0 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Scotch Game: Steinitz Variation (4. Nxd4 Qh4) 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Nxd4 Qh4
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.