Scotch Game: Ghulam-Kassim Variation
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Nxd4 Nxd4 5. Qxd4 d6 6. Bd3
The Scotch Game: Ghulam-Kassim Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO C45, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Nxd4 Nxd4 5. Qxd4 d6 6. Bd3. 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 768 times by this move order. White won 53%, 5% were drawn and Black won 42%. The most popular continuation is 6… Nf6 (49% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.30 (Stockfish, depth 55; best line 6… Nf6 7. O-O Be7 8. c4 O-O 9. Nc3)
- ECO
- C45
- Moves
- 11 plies
- FEN
r1bqkbnr/ppp2ppp/3p4/8/3QP3/3B4/PPP2PPP/RNB1K2R b KQkq - 1 6- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Nxd4 Nxd4 5. Qxd4 d6 6. Bd3
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 408 | |
| 1500-1999 | 351 | |
| 2000+ | 9 | |
| All | 768 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 6… Nf6 | 376 (49%) | |
| 6… Be6 | 170 (22%) | |
| 6… c5 | 66 (9%) | |
| 6… Qf6 | 48 (6%) | |
| 6… Be7 | 35 (5%) | |
| 6… Ne7 | 16 (2%) | |
| 6… Bd7 | 15 (2%) | |
| 6… h6 | 8 (1%) |
Master games
7 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 100%, draw 0%, Black 0%). The strongest:
- Mehmet Kangal (1524) – Hasan Cakmakci (1539) 1-0 · Turkish Cup 2017 · 2017-02-02
- Joao Batista Dias (1807) – Andre Kim (1158) 1-0 · Floripa Winter 2022 · 2022-07-14
- Wojciech Chojnacki (1544) – Adam Szych (1408) 1-0 · XXII Poznan Open 2014 · 2014-08-14
Search all games of the Scotch Game: Ghulam-Kassim Variation and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- udemski (2098) – VicheOgono (2088) 0-1 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
- makmak1984 (2090) – Samuel4539 (2077) 0-1 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
- Marc_Pistole (2072) – wirodayan (2091) 1-0 · 2026-09-06 · 300 + 0s
Comes from
Scotch Game (3… exd4 4. Nxd4) 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Nxd4
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.