Scotch Game: Scotch Gambit, Kingside Variation
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. d4 exd4 5. e5 Ng4
The Scotch Game: Scotch Gambit, Kingside Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO C44, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. d4 exd4 5. e5 Ng4. 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 670 times by this move order. White won 58%, 3% were drawn and Black won 39%. The most popular continuation is 6. Bxf7+ (34% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.15 (Stockfish, depth 50; best line 6. O-O Be7 7. Re1 d6 8. exd6 cxd6)
- ECO
- C44
- Moves
- 10 plies
- FEN
r1bqkb1r/pppp1ppp/2n5/4P3/2Bp2n1/5N2/PPP2PPP/RNBQK2R w KQkq - 1 6- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. d4 exd4 5. e5 Ng4
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 204 | |
| 1500-1999 | 446 | |
| 2000+ | 20 | |
| All | 670 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 6. Bxf7+ | 228 (34%) | |
| 6. O-O | 215 (32%) | |
| 6. Nxd4 | 77 (11%) | |
| 6. Bf4 | 46 (7%) | |
| 6. Ng5 | 38 (6%) | |
| 6. Bg5 | 17 (3%) | |
| 6. Qe2 | 17 (3%) | |
| 6. h3 | 16 (2%) |
Master games
105 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 27%, draw 32%, Black 41%). The strongest:
- GM Gawain C B Maroroa Jones (2670) – GM Alexei Shirov (2662) 1/2-1/2 · Euro Online Blitz TOP4 · 2020-12-20
- GM Frederik Svane (2645) – GM Haik M. Martirosyan (2636) 1/2-1/2 · Sardinia World Open A · 2026-05-08
- GM Maksim Chigaev (2588) – GM Pavel Ponkratov (2631) 1/2-1/2 · 33rd Leon Blitz Final · 2020-07-15
- GM Kazybek Nogerbek (2538) – GM Murali Karthikeyan (2662) 1/2-1/2 · KazChess Masters 2025 · 2025-11-25
- GM Steven Zierk (2488) – GM Vladislav Artemiev (2701) 1/2-1/2 · Titled Tue 17th Jan Late · 2023-01-17
Search all games of the Scotch Game: Scotch Gambit, Kingside Variation and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- FM AlexVerzhansky (2445) – GM AtalikS (2654) 1-0 · 2026-09-06 · 180 + 0s
- kintoho (2473) – knightpromotion2021 (2397) 1-0 · 2026-09-06 · 180 + 0s
- Jansz_18 (2270) – okielang (2365) 1-0 · 2026-09-06 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Scotch Game: Scotch Gambit, Dubois Réti Defense 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. d4 exd4
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.