Scotch Opening
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Is the Scotch a viable opening for white?
Yes, but Ruy Lopez and Italian are better.
In the Scotch, unfortunately Black can equalize quite simply no matter what, as shown here:
While there is still chess to be played, due to the amount of material that has been traded off, the game becomes quieter, more positional, and drawish. That being said, this is more likely to happen at your level:
Yes, it is viable.
Kasparov played it in his 1990 World Championship match against Karpov and later in top tournaments.
https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1067288
https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1070620
https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1005735
Scotch Game is fine for White but there are many options for Black that equalize (4… Bc5, 4… Nf6, even the weird looking 4… Qh4!?) and Italian and Ruy are both better. Scotch Gambit is a more aggressive version, which I play, but it too falls short of advantage at higher levels as long as Black returns the pawn at some point with 4… Nf6 5. e5 d5. If you are looking for fun, Scotch can be fine, but objectively Ruy Lopez and Italian will always be better without groundbreaking discoveries.
@4
"there are many options for Black that equalize (4… Bc5, 4… Nf6"
++ For the Ruy Lopez or the Italian there are many options for Black to equalize as well.
"even the weird looking 4… Qh4" ++ This Steinitz move is refuted.
It wins a pawn by force, but the black king cannot castle and gets attacked by Nb5.