My study on the Scotch Gambit

I recently updated/reworked my old study on the Scotch gambit, which is an opening dear to me as I played it throughout my time playing chess. My main motivation for writing this study was to learn and improve my own understanding of the opening. But another reason was because I always felt that the Scotch gambit had an unjust reputation as being unsound, or an opening people play just for tricks. I hope that my study at least convinces some of you that it's not just a gimmicky opening, but one that is fundamentally sound and rich with many interesting ideas, thanks!

I really enjoy the scotch gambit, never knew/realised that it was considered gimmicky. I just thought black avoids it because practically its difficult to play against. I've played the sarrat variation a few times - I predominantly play bullet and often prefer the intermediate check on 9. Qd5+ instead of the immediate 9.Qxc5. Not a big difference and scores similar across rating ranges but just an observation.

Nice study, thanks for sharing.

Nice study dude

I have played scotch gambit one time but my friend @shazimharis plays it against me everytime we play

5...Nf6 is the best reply to the Scotch Gambit but you will also see Bb5, Bb4+, d6, h6 and other less efficacious moves. I love and play this opening exclusively as White. It avoids the analysis jungle of the more popular Ruy Lopez and many players don't know what to do against it. I think with best play, black gets an advantage with 5...Nf6 but how often does one see best play? I'm really looking forward to future chapters. Thank you!