Starting Out The Scotch by WIM Fiona Steil-Antoni & by IM Alex Astaneh

The Best-Scoring Opening for Club Players
Learn the Versatile Scotch

In more than 50 million games between players rated 1000-2000 online, White has scored better with the Scotch Game than with any other opening.

Its solidity, open nature, and attacking chances make it one of the most potent weapons for any non-professional player.

And the solidity of the lines of this course means it will accompany you to wherever you decide you want to go – your first tournament, a local trophy, or even your first grandmaster norm. The sky is the limit with the Scotch.

Starting Out: The Scotch is a complete repertoire on the Scotch Opening (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4), designed with club players in mind.

Whether you’re choosing your first opening or you’re a tournament-tested advanced player, this course is a one-stop shop for learning the attacking, free-wheeling, and open Scotch Game.

Authors WIM Fiona-Steil-Antoni and IM Alex Astaneh have designed this course for beginner/intermediate players and advanced players alike, so wherever you are in your chess journey, it’s bound to come in handy.

Some of what you’ll learn in Starting Out: The Scotch

🎯 The only good move for Black on move 3 – and how to gain an immediate advantage if they don’t play it

🎯 Become a dominating central force after (3…exd4, 4.Nxd4 Nxd4 5.Qxd4) with a queen that cannot be chased away

🎯 Damage Black’s pawn structure and apply a positional squeeze – in the Schmidt Variation(4…Nf6) and take advantage of Black’s weak pawns with subtle yet razor-sharp lines

🎯 Leave Black with a ruined pawn structure in the Classical Variation (4…Bc5) with a low-theory and aggressive reply that will confound opponents

🎯 Ingrain typical traps into your play with a dedicated Tactics chapter and test overall concepts learned with 9 carefully selected model games

Two great chess instructors make learning the Scotch a cinch

The task of teaching openings with an approachable style that club players will understand is never easy. With presentation by WIM Fiona Steil-Antoni, you’re in great hands. She’s a gold-medal-winning Olympian, streamer, and columnist for Chess.com, where she explains tactics in a beginner-friendly manner, so she knows how to deliver content to learners.

Not to mention she’s teamed up with IM Alex Astaneh who’s got teaching experience of his own – his first course for Chessable My First Grünfeld is an intuitive course on the often daunting Grünfeld Defense.

So if you want the most ambitious and aggressive way to crush other club players – Starting Out: The Scotch is the way to go.