Scotch Game: Schmidt Variation
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6
The Scotch Game: Schmidt Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO C45, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6. It is a line of the Scotch Game. White is to move. 3 named lines continue from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 15,516 times by this move order. White won 47%, 5% were drawn and Black won 48%. The most popular continuation is 5. Nxc6 (57% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.10 (Stockfish, depth 51; best line 5. Nc3 Bb4 6. Nxc6 bxc6 7. Bd3 d5)
- ECO
- C45
- Moves
- 8 plies
- FEN
r1bqkb1r/pppp1ppp/2n2n2/8/3NP3/8/PPP2PPP/RNBQKB1R w KQkq - 1 5- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 5,974 | |
| 1500-1999 | 7,002 | |
| 2000+ | 2,540 | |
| All | 15,516 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 5. Nxc6 | 8,898 (57%) | |
| 5. Nc3 | 4,995 (32%) | |
| 5. Bg5 | 485 (3%) | |
| 5. e5 Alekhine Gambit | 323 (2%) | |
| 5. f3 | 289 (2%) | |
| 5. Bc4 | 124 (1%) | |
| 5. Be3 | 70 (0%) | |
| 5. Bd3 | 68 (0%) |
Master games
5,256 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 34%, draw 29%, Black 37%). The strongest:
- GM Hikaru Nakamura (2787) – GM Magnus Carlsen (2835) 1/2-1/2 · Bullet Chess Winners 2023 · 2023-07-21
- GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (2736) – GM Magnus Carlsen (2859) 1/2-1/2 · chess.com SpeedChess 2022 · 2022-12-16
- GM Hikaru Nakamura (2804) – GM Gukesh D (2787) 1-0 · 13th Norway Chess 2025 · 2025-06-03
- GM Erigaisi Arjun (2776) – GM Hikaru Nakamura (2807) 1/2-1/2 · Titled Tue 8th Jul Early · 2025-07-08
- GM Fabiano Caruana (2792) – GM Javokhir Sindarov (2777) 1-0 · Saint Louis Blitz 2026 · 2026-08-06
Search all games of the Scotch Game: Schmidt Variation and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- Nana_jede_cevape (2891) – NM Andrey11976 (2793) 0-1 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 0s
- Nana_jede_cevape (2879) – NM Andrey11976 (2804) 0-1 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 0s
- GM athena-pallada (2887) – GM JanistanTV (2727) 0-1 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Scotch Game (3… exd4 4. Nxd4) 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Nxd4
Continuations
- Scotch Game: Alekhine Gambit C45 · 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. e5
- Scotch Game: Mieses Variation C45 · 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nxc6 bxc6 6. e5
- Scotch Game: Tartakower Variation C45 · 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nxc6 bxc6 6. Nd2
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.