Scotch Game

The Scotch Game, or Scotch Opening, is a chess opening that begins with the moves:

1. e4 e5

2. Nf3 Nc6

3. d4

White strikes in the centre early with 3.d4. Black almost always responds with 3...exd4. White's most common reply is 4.Nxd4, with the notable alternatives 4.Bc4 (the Scotch Gambit) and 4.c3 (the Göring Gambit).

Ercole del Rio, in his 1750 treatise Sopra il giuoco degli Scacchi, Osservazioni pratiche d’anonimo Autore Modenese ("On the game of Chess, practical Observations by an anonymous Modenese Author"), was the first author to mention what is now called the Scotch Game. The opening received its name from a correspondence match in 1824 between Edinburgh and London.

Common in the 19th century, by 1900 the Scotch had declined in popularity because it was thought to release the central tension too early and allow Black to equalise without difficulty. Garry Kasparov led a revival of the Scotch in the late 20th century, however, arguing it caused Black lasting strategic problems while avoiding the extensively analysed Ruy Lopez. It has also been advocated by Jan Timman and Sergei Rublevsky.