Scotch game

Just wondering what people think of this opening and whether it's playable as a beginner?

Originally posted by lordgledhill
Just wondering what people think of this opening and whether it's playable as a beginner?

Love it. It's also a excellent opening for beginners; as John Emms says in the Scotch Game (a book I highly recommend):

the Scotch is a very well respected opening that you can rely on ......................... It's also relatively easy to learn and can be played after little study; unlike the Ruy Lopez, Black doesn't have at his disposal a plethora of tricky sidelines.

It's an excellent opening for beginners. The Scotch Gambit was my first opening back in the early 70s.

Both of these are quite playable:

Scotch Game: 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 d4 ed 4 Nd4

Scotch Gambit: 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 d4 ed 4 Bc4 and then probably 5 c3.

The Scotch Gambit is recommended by Lev Alburt, et. al. in Chess Openings for White Explained.

The Scotch Game is playable. Unlike the Closed Ruy Lopez variants, the Scotch Game does not really have any truly closed positions. It can offer either quiet or very sharp positions, depending your preferences.

The Scotch Gambit is the backbone of my repertoire for white.
1.e4...e5 2. Nf3...Nc6 3. d4...exd4 4. Bc4

great opening i play it here sometimes but in OTB play it all the time if the opponent accepts i usually win(USCF rating about 1300), got a whole book about the opening, i would deff recommend it