The Gambiteer's Guild- A g

chess openings
The Scotch Gambit
The Scotch Gambit begins with 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 exd4
4.Bc4 (or perhaps 2.d4 exd4 3.Nf3 Nc6 4.Bc4, or 2.d4 exd4 3.Bc4
Nc6 4.Nf3).

The Scotch Gambit is another off-shoot of the Scotch Game. Instead

of recapturing the pawn on d4 immediately, or offering a gambit
immediately with 4.c3, White develops the f1-bishop to c4, eyeing f7,
and keeps Black guessing as to whether c2-c3 or Nf3xd4 will follow. If
Black plays inaccurately then White can often get into favourable lines
of the Gring Gambit (4.c3) following a subsequent c2-c3.
However, the Scotch Gambit is primarily a means of getting into the
standard Italian Game, while denying Black the opportunity to get into

various lines that involve maintaining the pawn on e5 (e.g. the

Hungarian Defence, 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Be7 4.d4 d6, and the
line 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.c3 Qe7). This is because 4...Nf6 transposes to the
4.d4 line of the Two Knights Defence (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6
4.d4 exd4) and 4...Bc5 5.c3 Nf6 transposes to the old main line of the
Giuoco Piano (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.c3 Nf6 5.d4 exd4).
The Scotch Gambit was used in the famous London vs Edinburgh
game and was sometimes used by Paul Morphy.
Minor responses from Black generally allow White a free choice
between recapturing on d4, or playing c2-c3 with the aim of getting
into favourable lines of the Gring Gambit. However, note that after
4...g6, White should play 5.c3 because I don't think White gets any
advantage after 5.Nxd4, while after 4...Be7 and 4...d6, 5.Nxd4 leads
into Hungarian Defence lines, while the gambit approaches with 5.c3
are playable but less likely to give a theoretical advantage.
If 4...Bc5 then both sides should accept the transposition into the
Giuoco Piano by continuing with 5.c3 Nf6, and then White chooses
between 6.e5, 6.0-0, and 6.cxd4 Bb4+ 7.Nbd2, 7.Bd2 and 7.Nc3.
If 4...Nf6 then I don't recommend 5.Ng5, but White can obtain
interesting and equal play with either 5.e5 or 5.0-0. After 5.e5, play
traditionally continues 5...d5 6.Bb5 Ne4 7.Nxd4, but 5...Ne4 and
5...Ng4 are also playable and 5...Ng4, in particular, is proving hard to
crack. After 5.0-0, White gets good chances in the Max Lange Attack
following 5...Bc5 6.e5, so Black should play 5...Nxe4, whereupon play
typically continues with the "visual" tactical sequence 6.Re1 d5 7.Bxd5
Qxd5 8.Nc3 and Black chooses between 8...Qa5, 8...Qh5 and 8...Qd8
(the first two being more reliable than 8...Qd8 in my opinion).

Repertoire/transposition issues
If White plays 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 exd4 4.Bc4, then White must be
ready for the Petroff Defence (2...Nf6), and the Philidor Defence
(2...d6). Black also has dubious but tricky gambit lines, the Elephant
(2...d5) and the Latvian (2...f5). After 2...Nc6 3.d4, however, Black
has no good way to hold onto the strong-point on d4. 3...d6 gives

White a pleasant choice between 4.dxe5, 4.Bb5 (transposing to the

Ruy Lopez, Steinitz Variation, which is quite passive for Black) and
4.Bc4 (which usually heads into the Hungarian Defence).
The main alternative is to try the move-order 1.e4 e5 2.d4 exd4 3.Nf3
Nc6 4.Bc4. Here Black has no particularly challenging alternatives at
move 2, but 3...Bb4+ may be a problem for some players (best play
following 3...Bb4+ is probably 4.c3 dxc3 5.Nxc3 Nc6, transposing
into one of the critical main lines of the Gring Gambit). 3...Nf6
also prevents White from getting into a Scotch Gambit, but then 4.Bc4,
transposing into theUrusov Gambit, is very much in the spirit of a
Scotch Gambit-based repertoire.
Alternatively White can also try 1.e4 e5 2.d4 exd4 3.Bc4 Nc6 4.Nf3.
Here 3...Bb4+ 4.c3 dxc3 5.Nxc3 transposes into a sideline of the
Danish Gambit, though it will most often lead into the Gring Gambit
with Nxc3 and ...Bb4. 3...Nf6 4.Nf3 leads to the Urusov Gambit
again, while 3...Bc5 4.Nf3 usually heads into the ...Bc5 lines of the
Scotch Gambit.
Sources and further reading
Internet articles
General
Tim Harding, Kibitzer #74, A Glass of Scotch
Tim Harding, Kibitzer #75, A Second Dram of the Scotch Gambit
4...Bc5
Mark Morss, Hard Chess, Lost Variations (4...Bc5 5.0-0 d6 6.c3 Bg4,
by transposition)
Tim Harding, Kibitzer #64, Swansong of the Giuoco Piano
Tim Harding, Kibitzer #65, Giuoco Piano, The Case for the Defence
Tim Harding, Kibitzer #69, Giuoco Piano, The Summing Up
Tim Harding, Kibitzer #70, Giuoco Piano, White Wins The Case!
Tim Harding, Kibitzer #118, Giuoco Piano Revisited
Michael Goeller, The Steinitz-Sveshnikov Attack (4...Bc5 5.c3 Nf6
6.e5!?)
Michael Goeller- Steinitz-Sveshnikov Attack Part 2

Stefan Bcker, Kaissiber Competition (Chesspublishing.com forum),

covers 4...Bc5 5.c3 Nf6 6.cxd4 Bb4+ 7.Nbd2!?
4...Nf6
Mark Morss, Hard Chess, Two Knights Modern (4...Nf6 5.e5 d5)
Tim Harding, Kibitzer #115, Two Knights Defence with d4 (4...Nf6)
Mark Morss, Hard Chess, The Main Line of the Two Knights (4...Nf6
5.0-0 Nxe4 6.Re1 d5 7.Bxd5 Qxd5 8.Nc3 Qh5)
Stefan Bcker, The Magic of Move Orders (covers 4...Nf6 5.0-0 Bc5
6.e5 d5 7.exf6 dxc4 8.fxg7!)
Michael Goeller, Modern Horowitz Variation of the Max Lange Attack
(4...Nf6 5.0-0 Bc5 6.e5 d5 7.exf6 dxc4 8.fxg7)
Stefan Bcker, Rook with a View, for Two Knights (covers an
interesting pawn sacrifice idea against 4...Nf6 5.0-0 Nxe4 6.Re1 d5
7.Bxd5 Qxd5 8.Nc3 Qh5, which can also be used against 8...Qa5)
Michael Goeller, The Anti-Modern 5...Ng4 (4...Nf6 5.e5 Ng4)
Books
Jude Acers and George Laven, The Italian Gambit and a Guiding
Repertoire for White- E4!, Trafford Publishing 2006.
John Emms, Play the Open Games as Black, Gambit 2000.
Kaissiber 22 (covers 4...Nf6 5.0-0 Bc5 6.e5 d5 7.exf6 dxc4 8.fxg7)
Kaissiber 28 (covers 4...Nf6 5.0-0 Nxe4 6.Re1 d5 7.Bxd5 Qxd5 8.Nc3
Qd8)
Kaissiber 34 & 35 (covers the Canal Variation, 4...Nf6 5.0-0 Nxe4
6.Re1 d5 7.Nc3)
Another source is Chess Openings for White: Explained, but I hesitate
to recommend this book after seeing a few reviews that queried the
objectivity of the coverage, most notably by John Watson.