Scotch Game
Chess opening · ECO C44 · 5 half-moves
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4
The Scotch Game is reached after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4. It is Black's move in the position shown.
It branches from the King's Knight Opening: Normal Variation with 3. d4.
How often it is played
The Scotch Game and its variations appeared in 2.0% of games — 59,363 of 3,000,000 rated games sampled from Lichess in September 2026. That makes it number 22 of the openings listed here.
Results
White won 53%, 3.6% were drawn and Black won 43%. These are games between players of every strength and time control, so they say how the opening does in practice rather than how sound it is.
What the engine thinks
Stockfish, at depth 18, evaluates the position at +0.14 — which is level. Positive numbers favour White; see reading the evaluation bar.
Similar openings
The most-played alternatives — what else could have been chosen around the move where this opening begins.
| Opening | Moves | Share of games |
|---|---|---|
| Italian Game | 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 | 4.6% |
| Ruy Lopez | 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 | 1.7% |
| Three Knights Opening | 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 | 1.3% |
Main continuations
| Variation | Moves | Share of games |
|---|---|---|
| Scotch Game: Lolli Variation | 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 Nxd4 | 0.40% |
| Scotch Game: Scotch Gambit | 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Bc4 | 0.38% |
| Scotch Game: Classical Variation | 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Nxd4 Bc5 | 0.21% |
| Scotch Game: Göring Gambit | 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. c3 | 0.13% |
| Scotch Game: Schmidt Variation | 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 | 0.12% |
| Scotch Game: Steinitz Variation | 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Nxd4 Qh4 | 0.02% |
| Scotch Game: Malaniuk Variation | 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Nxd4 Bb4+ | 0.01% |
| Scotch Game: Relfsson Gambit | 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Bb5 | 0.01% |
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