Kasparov's Experiment
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 exd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6
The Scotch Game owes its name to a correspondence chess match between the cities of Edinburgh and London, played from 1824 to 1828, in which the Scots initially led the black pieces and lost to 3.d4, but later returned the favour and successfully opened with 3.d4 themselves. After interest in this direct style of play had clearly waned by the beginning of the 20th century, in 1990 it was none other than Garry Kasparov who - with the score level - opened with the Scotch in the 14th game of his World Championship match (Lyon/New York) against Anatoly Karpov, thus ending the slumber of this opening. Although the game ended in a draw, Kasparov repeated the "experiment" in his next game with White - this time with success. The result was a Scotch boom. A whole herd of top players pounced on the variation, and what was considered outdated yesterday was suddenly chic and modern again.
Kasparov had unearthed the Mieses Variation, in which 4...Nf6 is followed by the exchange 5.Nxc6 bxc6 and then the advance 6.e5.
Now 6...Qe7 is the best move for Black, although it blocks the Bishop on f8. But it is often placed on g7, which puts additional pressure on e5. And White, who has to defend the e5-pawn, has no better move than blocking the bishop with 7.Qe2. After 7...Nd5
8.c4 Black can then choose between 8...Ba6 and 8...Nb6. In modern theory, the move 8.h4 has become an important option for White in the diagram position.
The most important alternative to the Mieses Variation is 5.Nc3, the Scotch Four-Knights. Here the main variation continues with 5...Bb4 6.Nxc6 bxc6 7.Bd3 d5 8.exd5 cxd5 9.0-0 0-0 10.Bg5 c6
where White has free piece play, but Black has the d5-pawn in the centre.
The Scotch Game has been for quite a while White's number two in the top list of open games after Spanish (currently being overpassed by Italian and Russian). However, a lot of theory has accumulated in the Mieses Variation, the Scotch Four-Knights Variation being certainly easier to understand and play.