Elias Williams
A Rare Scotch Game Variation: The "Schemm Variation"
A proposed name for a rare variation.The Scotch Game is a well-known and popular chess opening. https://lichess.org/SEaN0p1k The most common continuation is 3. ...exd4 4. Nxd4 Nc6, known as the "Schmidt Variation:"
https://lichess.org/TUOoUUjWxxXW
I have played this variation quite frequently as Black. A much less common move is 4. ...d5.https://lichess.org/DAsqKyur
I have tried this out as Black a few times. It's not the best move, but neither does it immediately lose. I found that this variation (1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Nxd4 d5) does not have an actual name, probably due to the fact that it is not played very often. After doing some research, I found a game from the book 500 Scotch Miniatures by Bill Wall (page 74) that may be the oldest recorded instance of this variation: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 exd4 4.Nxd4 d5 5.exd5 Qxd5 6.Be3 Bd6 7.c4 Bb4+ 8.Nc3 Qe5 9.Be2 Nf6 10.a3 Bxc3+ 11.bxc3 O-O 12.O-O Rad8 13.Qb3 b5 14 .Rad1 Rfe8 1 5.Rd3 Na5 16 .Qa2 c5 17 .f4 Qe7 18.Nf3 Bf5 0-1. The game was S. O'Berry - M. Schemm, Oregon 1975. (If you go through the game, you will find an error at Black's move 12. Rad8. This move is not possible per the notation!) I therefore propose to name this variation the Schemm Variation of the Scotch Game, in honor of its first recorded player. Thank you for reading my short historical note/naming recommendation!
