The Scotch arises after 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 exd4 4.Nxd4 (ECO C45). Unlike the Spanish and the Italian, White opens the centre at once and gets free piece play. On the board is the classical 4...Bc5.
The idea is to develop quickly and use the space in the centre. The exchange in the middle simplifies the game and leads to clear open positions without long manoeuvring.
Kasparov brought the Scotch back into fashion in his world championship matches. It is a good choice for anyone who likes open play and would rather not learn the endless theory of the Spanish.
Set it up on the board, move the pieces around and copy the FEN - or open the full walkthrough of the opening in a separate article.
Drag a piece onto the board, or click a piece and then click the squares. The cross beside the pieces sweeps every piece of that colour off the board, and a single piece can be dragged off the edge.
The pieces will be arranged into the chosen pattern.
It is the mating side to move. Find mate in one.
Openings, endgame positions and breakthrough studies - the set-up appears on the board.
Build your own position in the board editor, read up on the rules of chess or run a tournament on your own positions in the free app.
No arbiter skills required. The app takes over the part that usually stops people from running tournaments at all: who plays whom in each round and who finishes first.
Sign up to the Vibe Chess bot on Telegram - it carries the schedule of meetups and chess events across the cities we run in.
