Scotch Game: Paulsen Attack
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Nxd4 Bc5 5. Be3 Qf6 6. c3 Nge7 7. Bb5
The Scotch Game: Paulsen 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. Bb5. 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 258 times by this move order. White won 46%, 6% were drawn and Black won 48%. The most popular continuation is 7… O-O (34% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.14 (Stockfish, depth 34; best line 7… Bb6 8. O-O O-O 9. Re1 Qg6 10. Nxc6)
- ECO
- C45
- Moves
- 13 plies
- FEN
r1b1k2r/ppppnppp/2n2q2/1Bb5/3NP3/2P1B3/PP3PPP/RN1QK2R b KQkq - 2 7- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Nxd4 Bc5 5. Be3 Qf6 6. c3 Nge7 7. Bb5
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 40 | |
| 1500-1999 | 176 | |
| 2000+ | 42 | |
| All | 258 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 7… O-O | 88 (34%) | |
| 7… a6 | 52 (20%) | |
| 7… Nxd4 | 35 (14%) | |
| 7… Bb6 | 35 (14%) | |
| 7… d6 | 18 (7%) | |
| 7… Qg6 | 9 (3%) | |
| 7… Ne5 | 8 (3%) | |
| 7… Bxd4 | 5 (2%) |
Master games
140 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 43%, draw 25%, Black 32%). The strongest:
- GM Jeffery Xiong (2709) – GM Magnus Carlsen (2863) 1-0 · Clutch Chess Showdown Int · 2020-06-08
- GM Erigaisi Arjun (2727) – GM Santosh Gujrathi Vidit (2737) 0-1 · World Rapid 2023 · 2023-12-28
- GM Maxim Matlakov (2738) – GM Vladimir Fedoseev (2718) 1/2-1/2 · Eliseev Memorial Pt1 2017 · 2017-11-18
- GM Jorden Van Foreest (2702) – GM Kirill Alekseenko (2702) 0-1 · Chess.com Rapid Wk1 Swiss · 2022-02-12
- GM Evgeniy Najer (2659) – GM Ernesto Inarkiev (2723) 1-0 · Aeroflot Open A 2017 · 2017-02-28
Search all games of the Scotch Game: Paulsen Attack and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- laviateur (2475) – blagig (2441) 0-1 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 2s
- laviateur (2465) – marle92 (2387) 1-0 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 2s
- Besktop (2357) – Godson_01 (2302) 1-0 · 2026-09-06 · 300 + 0s
Comes from
Scotch Game: Classical Variation 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Nxd4 Bc5
Continuations
- Scotch Game: Paulsen, Gunsberg Defense C45 · 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Nxd4 Bc5 5. Be3 Qf6 6. c3 Nge7 7. Bb5 Nd8
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.