Scotch Game: Classical Variation, Blackburne Attack
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Nxd4 Bc5 5. Be3 Qf6 6. c3 Nge7 7. Qd2
The Scotch Game: Classical Variation, Blackburne Attack is a chess opening classified as ECO C45, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Nxd4 Bc5 5. Be3 Qf6 6. c3 Nge7 7. Qd2. It is a line of the Scotch Game. Black is to move. 1 named line continues from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 74 times by this move order. White won 50%, 3% were drawn and Black won 47%. The most popular continuation is 7… O-O (35% of games).
Engine evaluation: 0.00 (Stockfish, depth 50; best line 7… d5 8. Nb5 Bxe3 9. fxe3 O-O 10. exd5)
- ECO
- C45
- Moves
- 13 plies
- FEN
r1b1k2r/ppppnppp/2n2q2/2b5/3NP3/2P1B3/PP1Q1PPP/RN2KB1R b KQkq - 2 7- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Nxd4 Bc5 5. Be3 Qf6 6. c3 Nge7 7. Qd2
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 4 | |
| 1500-1999 | 62 | |
| 2000+ | 8 | |
| All | 74 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 7… O-O | 26 (35%) | |
| 7… d5 | 15 (20%) | |
| 7… d6 | 14 (19%) | |
| 7… h6 | 9 (12%) | |
| 7… Bb6 | 5 (7%) | |
| 7… Kd8 | 1 (1%) | |
| 7… a5 | 1 (1%) | |
| 7… a6 | 1 (1%) |
Master games
45 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 27%, draw 40%, Black 33%). The strongest:
- GM Sergei Rublevsky (2695) – GM Dmitry Jakovenko (2713) 1-0 · FIDE World Blitz 2013 · 2013-06-09
- GM Marat Dzhumaev (2557) – GM Oleg Korneev (2609) 0-1 · 7th Agzamov Memorial · 2013-04-18
- GM Sergei Rublevsky (2651) – Arseniy Nesterov (2484) 1-0 · ch-RUS Blitz 2019 · 2019-10-17
- GM Nikolai Ninov (2507) – IM Jakob Vang Glud (2520) 1/2-1/2 · BSF GM Cup 2012 · 2012-10-15
- FM Jorge Alberto Ramirez Garcia (2312) – Ivan Valles Moreno (2418) 0-1 · 23rd Montcada Open 2015 · 2015-06-26
Search all games of the Scotch Game: Classical Variation, Blackburne Attack and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- Etrn4l (2304) – Stallion28 (2415) 1-0 · 2026-09-03 · 600 + 0s
- klokovski (2315) – dk1210 (2315) 1-0 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 0s
- Etrn4l (2188) – nenadbnb (2243) 0-1 · 2026-09-03 · 300 + 0s
Comes from
Scotch Game: Classical Variation 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Nxd4 Bc5
Continuations
- Scotch Game: Gottschall Variation C45 · 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Nxd4 Bc5 5. Be3 Qf6 6. c3 Nge7 7. Qd2 d5 8. Nb5 Bxe3 9. Qxe3 O-O 10. Nxc7 Rb8 11. Nxd5 Nxd5 12. exd5 Nb4
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.