I have a few questions regarding the scotch opening, being my favourite.

I have been told that 4. ... Nf6 is a good move in a typical pawn exchange scotch. I just don't see how black can undouble his pawns. Doubled pawns are bad no matter what, unless you can undouble them fast enough, which is what Wolfstriker was trying to say. So how can black regain equalization:

First off, I wouldn't call 4...Nf6 the best move in the scotch game, 4...Bc5 is better. Secondly, 6.e5 is better than 6.Bd3. Thirdly, doubled pawns aren't always bad. They can actually be good in some cases.

Doubles pawns are "not bad no matter what" and "undoubling" is not the only way to make them stronger.

There are many systems where one side accepts Doubled pawns and uses them to provide dynamic counter play.

Like all things Chess, it is situational in  nature and your mileage may vary.

Honestly when I have played the with/against the Scoth it is playing 5.Nc3 keeping that center pawn and black isn't trying to get a Queen in the center of the board since it will pin the d-pawn  or give chances of checking the king letting them attack the flanks of pawns.  I have not seen this variation of the opening so that is just my past experiences.

I'm confused; can anyone show me where I said doubled pawns are always bad?  I like playing the Scotch, but I don't think I've ever talked about 4. ...Nf6 before in the forums (I prefer seeing that to Bc5).

Both Nf6 and Bc5 are strong lines for black.

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Isn't Kaufman the same guy who back in the 80s said there would never be a program that could beat a grandmaster?

True, doubled pawns tend to be bad, but as long as the material is even and white's position isn't much better than black's, the doubled pawns won't cause black to lose if he is good at playing end games and mid games.

I play Qh4 and like it. The main problem is that there are lines where White sacs the e4 pawn to get your king on d8 (because after Nb5 you can't defend the c7 fork), but I think you can decline the pawn and be OK. A surprising number of opponents play Nf3 or Nxc6 (I'm talking about 1500 USCF people in blitz over the board, I think I even had a 1300 do that once in a tournament game) and lose the pawn for nothing.

OK, here's the line where you could have to play Kd8: e4 e5 Nf3 Nc6 d4 exd4 Nxd4 Qh4 Nc3 Bb4 Be2

Now, from this position, Qxe4 Nb5 Bxc3+ (Ba5 Nxc7+ anyways picks up the Exchange at least) bxc3 Kd8 is extremely tough to defend. But you don't have to play Qxe4.

I prefer Nf6. In this position, Nb5 Ba5 defends because Nxc7+ no longer works. They castle or something and then you just play chess.

Do you play the Scotch? Or do you want to play the Scotch? If so, we welcome you to to join the Scotch Fans Team! We have many forums regarding the Scotch, from how to successfully play this remarkable opening, to how to counter any possible defenses against the Scotch, favourite lines of the Scotch and even how to play as Black should the Scotch be used against us.

Being one of Garry Kasparov's favourite weapons, the Scotch is one of the simplest to learn; yet there are so many possibilities and traps that can arise from the Scotch that it can sometimes catch the opponent off guard. The Scotch immediately gives White an advantage right from the beginning as the center is White's, White has more space, there is more room for development, both central pawns are right in the center of the board and White is still one move ahead.

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