ecocodes
Volume C · Open games and the French Defense‹ C43C45 ›
a1b2c3d4e5f6g7h8
Reference position · White to move

C44 King’s Knight Opening: Normal Variation

Also filed here: Scotch Game, Ponziani Opening, King’s Pawn Game, Dresden Opening, Irish Gambit, Latvian Gambit.

C44 holds 53 named lines from seven openings, most of them (25) under Scotch Game. It leaves C40 (King’s Knight Opening) with 2...Nc6. Material is no longer level at the end of 28 of its lines; the widest gap, six pawns in Black’s favour, comes in Scotch Game: Sea-Cadet Mate. With 53 named lines it is the largest code of the 100 codes in volume C. Lines of 55 other codes continue from its position, the third-widest spread of the 100 codes in volume C.

Score sheet
#WhiteBlack
1e4e5
2Nf3Nc6

The move that completes C44

The reference line of C45 plays all of these moves and continues beyond them; C44 is the position reached at 2...Nc6.

  1. 2...Nc6 The knight leaves b8 for c6, opening a line for the rook on a8, guarding the pawn on e5.

Lines filed under C44

All 53 share their first four plies, the whole reference line and then split nine ways at White’s move 3.

NameAfter the shared startPliesAt the end
King’s Knight Opening: Normal Variation(the shared start itself)4
Irish Gambit3.Nxe55White +1
King’s Knight Opening: Konstantinopolsky3.g35
King’s Pawn Game: Dresden Opening3.c45
King’s Pawn Game: Pachman Wing Gambit3.b45
King’s Pawn Game: Tayler Opening3.Be25
Ponziani Opening3.c35
Scotch Game3.d45
Ponziani Opening: Jaenisch Counterattack3.c3 Nf66
Ponziani Opening: Ponziani Countergambit3.c3 f56
Ponziani Opening: Romanishin Variation3.c3 Be76
Ponziani Opening: Réti Variation3.c3 Nge76
Scotch Game3.d4 exd46Black +1
Scotch Game: Lolli Variation3.d4 Nxd46Black +1
Dresden Opening: The Goblin3.c4 Nf6 4.Nxe57White +1
King’s Pawn Game: Schulze-Müller Gambit3.Nxe5 Nxe5 4.d47Black +2
King’s Pawn Game: Tayler Opening3.Be2 Nf6 4.d47
Latvian Gambit: Clam Gambit3.d3 f5 4.exf57White +1
Ponziani Opening: Jaenisch Counterattack3.c3 Nf6 4.d37
Ponziani Opening: Neumann Gambit3.c3 Nf6 4.Bc47
Ponziani Opening: Spanish Variation3.c3 d5 4.Bb57
Scotch Game: Göring Gambit3.d4 exd4 4.c37Black +1
Scotch Game: Relfsson Gambit3.d4 exd4 4.Bb57Black +1
Scotch Game: Scotch Gambit3.d4 exd4 4.Bc47Black +1
Ponziani Opening: Caro Gambit3.c3 d5 4.Qa4 Bd78
Ponziani Opening: Jaenisch Counterattack3.c3 Nf6 4.d3 d58
Ponziani Opening: Leonhardt Variation3.c3 d5 4.Qa4 Nf68
Ponziani Opening: Steinitz Variation3.c3 d5 4.Qa4 f68
Scotch Game: Benima Defense3.Bc4 Be7 4.d4 exd48Black +1
Scotch Game: Haxo Gambit3.d4 exd4 4.Bc4 Bc58Black +1
Scotch Game: Scotch Gambit, Dubois Réti Defense3.Bc4 Nf6 4.d4 exd48Black +1
Scotch Game: Scotch Gambit, Göring Gambit Declined3.d4 exd4 4.c3 d58Black +1
Scotch Game: Scotch Gambit, London Defense3.d4 exd4 4.Bc4 Bb4+8Black +1, check
King’s Pawn Game: Tayler Opening, Basman Gambit3.Be2 Nf6 4.d4 exd4 5.e59Black +1
King’s Pawn Game: Tayler Opening, Inverted Hanham3.Be2 Nf6 4.d3 d5 5.Nbd29
Ponziani Opening: Jaenisch Counterattack3.c3 Nf6 4.d3 d5 5.Nbd29
Ponziani Opening: Ponziani Countergambit, Schmidt Attack3.c3 f5 4.d4 d6 5.d59
Scotch Game: Göring Gambit, Double Pawn Sacrifice3.d4 exd4 4.c3 dxc3 5.Bc49Black +2
Scotch Game: Lolli Variation3.d4 Nxd4 4.Nxd4 exd4 5.Qxd49
Scotch Game: Napoleon Gambit3.d4 Nxd4 4.Nxd4 exd4 5.Bc49Black +1
Scotch Game: Scotch Gambit, Advance Variation3.d4 exd4 4.Bc4 Nf6 5.e59Black +1
Scotch Game: Scotch Gambit, Sarratt Variation3.d4 exd4 4.Bc4 Bc5 5.Ng59Black +1
Ponziani Opening: Vukovic Gambit3.c3 Nf6 4.d4 Nxe4 5.d5 Bc510Black +1
Scotch Game: Göring Gambit, Main Line3.d4 exd4 4.c3 dxc3 5.Nxc3 Bb410Black +1
Scotch Game: Scotch Gambit, Kingside Variation3.Bc4 Nf6 4.d4 exd4 5.e5 Ng410Black +1
Ponziani Opening: Spanish Variation, Harrwitz Attack, Nikitin Gambit3.c3 d5 4.Bb5 dxe4 5.Nxe5 Qd5 6.Qa411
Scotch Game: Vitzthum Attack3.d4 exd4 4.Bc4 Bc5 5.Ng5 Nh6 6.Qh511Black +1
Scotch Game: Göring Gambit, Bardeleben Variation3.d4 exd4 4.c3 dxc3 5.Bc4 Nf6 6.Nxc3 Bb412Black +1
Scotch Game: Scotch Gambit, Cochrane-Anderssen Variation3.d4 exd4 4.Bc4 Bc5 5.O-O d6 6.c3 Bg412Black +1, White castled
Scotch Game: Cochrane Variation3.d4 exd4 4.Bc4 Bb4+ 5.c3 dxc3 6.bxc3 Ba5 7.e513Black +1
Scotch Game: Cochrane-Shumov Defense3.d4 exd4 4.Bc4 Bc5 5.Ng5 Nh6 6.Nxf7 Nxf7 7.Bxf7+ Kxf7 8.Qh5+ g6 9.Qxc5 d518
Scotch Game: Hanneken Variation3.d4 exd4 4.Bc4 Bb4+ 5.c3 dxc3 6.O-O cxb2 7.Bxb2 Nf6 8.Ng5 O-O 9.e5 Nxe518Black +3, both castled
Scotch Game: Sea-Cadet Mate3.d4 exd4 4.c3 dxc3 5.Nxc3 d6 6.Bc4 Bg4 7.O-O Ne5 8.Nxe5 Bxd1 9.Bxf7+ Ke7 10.Nd5#19Black +6, White castled, check

The road to C44

  1. 1.e4one earlier stop: B00
  2. 1...e5C20 King’s Pawn Game
  3. 2.Nf3C40 King’s Knight Opening
  4. 2...Nc6C44

The position after 2...Nc6

White has brought out the knight on f3; Black the knight on c6. White could capture with Nxe5. White is to move and has 27 legal moves.

WhiteBlackMaterial (pawn units)3939Minor pieces developed11Moves spent on pawns11Pawns on d4, e4, d5, e511Squares attacked in the other half65not castlednot castled

Codes that branch off from C44

The reference lines of four other codes leave C44 from two of its named positions; “From” gives the last part of that position’s name.

CodeFromMovesReference line
C45Scotch Game4.Nxd4Scotch Game
C46Normal Variation3.Nc3Three Knights Opening
C50Normal Variation3.Bc4Italian Game
C60Normal Variation3.Bb5Ruy Lopez

Closest boards in other codes

CodeLineDiffers on
B30Sicilian Defense: Old Sicilianfour squares: c5, e5, c7, e7
C20King’s Pawn Gamefour squares: g1, f3, c6, b8
C41Philidor Defensefour squares: c6, d6, d7, b8
C42Petrov’s Defensefour squares: c6, f6, b8, g8
C47Four Knights Gamefour squares: b1, c3, f6, g8
C55Italian Game: Two Knights Defensefour squares: f1, c4, f6, g8
C61Ruy Lopez: Bird Variationfour squares: f1, d4, b5, c6

Where lines continue from here

Besides the codes above, they belong to C47, C48, C49, C51, C52, C53, C54, C55, C56, C57, C58, C59, C61, C62, C63, C64, C65, C66, C67, C68, C69, C70, C71, C72, C73, C74, C75, C76, C77, C78, C79, C80, C81, C82, C83, C84, C85, C86, C87, C88, C89, C90, C91, C92, C93, C94, C95, C96, C97, C98, C99.

Volume C

  1. 00
  2. 01
  3. 02
  4. 03
  5. 04
  6. 05
  7. 06
  8. 07
  9. 08
  10. 09
  11. 10
  12. 11
  13. 12
  14. 13
  15. 14
  16. 15
  17. 16
  18. 17
  19. 18
  20. 19
  21. 20
  22. 21
  23. 22
  24. 23
  25. 24
  26. 25
  27. 26
  28. 27
  29. 28
  30. 29
  31. 30
  32. 31
  33. 32
  34. 33
  35. 34
  36. 35
  37. 36
  38. 37
  39. 38
  40. 39
  41. 40
  42. 41
  43. 42
  44. 43
  45. 44
  46. 45
  47. 46
  48. 47
  49. 48
  50. 49
  51. 50
  52. 51
  53. 52
  54. 53
  55. 54
  56. 55
  57. 56
  58. 57
  59. 58
  60. 59
  61. 60
  62. 61
  63. 62
  64. 63
  65. 64
  66. 65
  67. 66
  68. 67
  69. 68
  70. 69
  71. 70
  72. 71
  73. 72
  74. 73
  75. 74
  76. 75
  77. 76
  78. 77
  79. 78
  80. 79
  81. 80
  82. 81
  83. 82
  84. 83
  85. 84
  86. 85
  87. 86
  88. 87
  89. 88
  90. 89
  91. 90
  92. 91
  93. 92
  94. 93
  95. 94
  96. 95
  97. 96
  98. 97
  99. 98
  100. 99

Other move orders

  • Scotch Game: Lolli Variation is also reached inside C45 Scotch Game: Ghulam-Kassim Variation, whose order is 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 exd4 4.Nxd4 Nxd4 5.Qxd4.

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