Scotch Game: Horwitz Attack
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Nxd4 Qh4 5. Nb5
The Scotch Game: Horwitz Attack is a chess opening classified as ECO C45, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Nxd4 Qh4 5. Nb5. 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 86 times by this move order. White won 59%, 7% were drawn and Black won 34%. The most popular continuation is 5… Qxe4+ (70% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.42 (Stockfish, depth 46; best line 5… Bb4+ 6. Bd2 Qxe4+ 7. Be2 Kd8 8. O-O)
- ECO
- C45
- Moves
- 9 plies
- FEN
r1b1kbnr/pppp1ppp/2n5/1N6/4P2q/8/PPP2PPP/RNBQKB1R b KQkq - 2 5- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Nxd4 Qh4 5. Nb5
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 10 | |
| 1500-1999 | 33 | |
| 2000+ | 43 | |
| All | 86 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 5… Qxe4+ | 60 (70%) | |
| 5… Bb4+ | 10 (12%) | |
| 5… Bc5 | 9 (10%) | |
| 5… Kd8 | 3 (3%) | |
| 5… Bd6 | 2 (2%) | |
| 5… Qd8 | 1 (1%) | |
| 5… Qf4 | 1 (1%) |
Master games
52 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 62%, draw 7%, Black 31%). The strongest:
- GM Martyn Kravtsiv (2598) – GM Jan-Krzysztof Duda (2729) 0-1 · Titled Tue 21st Oct 2025 · 2025-10-21
- IM Jakub Kosakowski (2486) – GM Jan-Krzysztof Duda (2732) 0-1 · chess.com Speed Poland · 2024-01-28
- GM Toms Kantans (2475) – GM Robert Hungaski (2471) 0-1 · Titled Tue 9th Jan Early · 2024-01-09
- GM Vasif Durarbayli (2612) – FM Erik Ronka (2284) 1-0 · Titled Tue 2nd Sep 2025 · 2025-09-02
- GM John Paul Gomez (2511) – FM Paulo Bersamina (2310) 1-0 · Indonesia Open 2013 · 2013-10-13
Search all games of the Scotch Game: Horwitz Attack and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- TheorySpeedrun (2661) – FM Crew12 (2702) 0-1 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
- saint_revenge (2458) – restaraunt (2475) 0-1 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
- Predator_Shark (2496) – Heroi007 (2405) 1-0 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Scotch Game: Steinitz Variation (4. Nxd4 Qh4) 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Nxd4 Qh4
Continuations
- Scotch Game (5… Bb4+ 6. Bd2) C45 · 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Nxd4 Qh4 5. Nb5 Bb4+ 6. Bd2
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.