Scotch Game

3.d4 swaps the centre pawns. From here the game is activity, not structure.

You give up the slow build-up of the Italian or Spanish on purpose. After ...exd4 Nxd4 the d- and e-files are half-open, your knight sits in the centre, and every piece has room. The plan is speed: develop, castle, rooks to the open files, and press before Black catches up.

Nxd4, never Qxd4. The knight on c6 is waiting for the queen.

Black's knight is already on c6, so a queen on d4 is captured at once. The knight recapture puts your best piece in the centre with nothing able to kick it. This is the one move you must never get wrong in the Scotch.

When the bishop points at your knight, defend it with Be3, then c3.

After ...Bc5 the d4-knight is attacked twice (bishop and knight) and defended once (queen). Be3 adds a defender and c3 adds a pawn, and only then do you bring the other knight out. Nc3 first drops a piece to ...Bxd4.

Trading on c6 leaves Black with c7 and c6 pawns that never move well.

In the main line the knight has done its job. Nxc6 bxc6 leaves Black's c-pawns doubled and the queenside loose, and it opens d3 for your bishop with e4 covered. You give up your best piece for a structure that stays worse all game.

...Qh4 or ...Qf6 looks scary. Answer with pieces, not pawns.

Black's queen comes out to hit e4 or f2. Nc3 covers e4, Be2 covers f3 and g4, Be3 covers d4 and f2. Each of those is a developing move, and the queen has to move again when your pieces arrive. Do not push g3 or f3 to chase her; that is exactly what she wants.

When Black frees the game with ...d5, take it, castle, then pin with Bg5.

...d5 is Black's whole point: it opens the c8-bishop and challenges e4. Take it, so the doubled pawn on c6 becomes an isolated pawn on d5. Castle, then Bg5 pins the knight that guards it. The pawn is a target for the rest of the game.

Rooks to d1 and e1, pieces at the c6/d5 pawns, no pawn-grabbing.

The Scotch middlegame is about the weak black pawn — c6 or d5 — and your lead in development. Put the rooks on the open files, keep the knight central or trade it for a bishop, and aim pieces at the pawn rather than winning it at once. If you find yourself chasing pawns with your queen, stop: the game is won by activity.