Scotch Game: Göring Gambit, Main Line
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. c3 dxc3 5. Nxc3 Bb4
The Scotch Game: Göring Gambit, Main Line is a chess opening classified as ECO C44, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. c3 dxc3 5. Nxc3 Bb4. It is a line of the Scotch Game. White is to move.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 2,446 times by this move order. White won 58%, 4% were drawn and Black won 38%. The most popular continuation is 6. Bc4 (90% of games).
Engine evaluation: −0.18 (Stockfish, depth 45; best line 6. Bc4 d6 7. Ng5 Nh6 8. O-O O-O)
- ECO
- C44
- Moves
- 10 plies
- FEN
r1bqk1nr/pppp1ppp/2n5/8/1b2P3/2N2N2/PP3PPP/R1BQKB1R w KQkq - 1 6- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. c3 dxc3 5. Nxc3 Bb4
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 793 | |
| 1500-1999 | 1,453 | |
| 2000+ | 200 | |
| All | 2,446 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 6. Bc4 | 2,197 (90%) | |
| 6. Bd2 | 79 (3%) | |
| 6. Qb3 | 72 (3%) | |
| 6. Bd3 | 27 (1%) | |
| 6. Ng5 | 24 (1%) | |
| 6. a3 | 15 (1%) | |
| 6. Bb5 | 9 (0%) | |
| 6. Bg5 | 5 (0%) |
Master games
92 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 57%, draw 16%, Black 27%). The strongest:
- GM Alireza Firouzja (2749) – GM Magnus Carlsen (2862) 1/2-1/2 · Magnus-Alireza Bullet · 2021-02-22
- GM Alireza Firouzja (2737) – GM Evgeny Alekseev (2550) 1-0 · Titled Tue 11th Jun Early · 2024-06-11
- GM Vasyl Ivanchuk (2678) – IM Francesco Sonis (2501) 1-0 · Tetraktys Concept Mgmt Bl · 2021-06-06
- IM Matvey Galchenko (2438) – GM Jan-Krzysztof Duda (2733) 1/2-1/2 · Titled Tue 28th May Late · 2024-05-28
- IM Matvey Galchenko (2438) – GM Gata Kamsky (2609) 1-0 · Titled Tue 1st Oct Early · 2024-10-01
Search all games of the Scotch Game: Göring Gambit, Main Line and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- Gagik77 (2342) – king_of_nowhere (2476) 0-1 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 2s
- Nepodrughimsya (2426) – Chakamba (2291) 1/2-1/2 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 0s
- DeDik12 (2315) – John1914 (2369) 0-1 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Scotch Game: Göring Gambit 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. c3
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, Bardeleben Variation C44
- Scotch Game: Göring Gambit, Double Pawn Sacrifice 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
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.