Max Lange Attack

In algebraic notation, c5 means column c and row five. The Max Lange Attack can arise through different move orders from the Italian Game or the Scotch Gambit. When different sequences reach the same position, the result is called a transposition. Its characteristic position appears after White sacrifices or temporarily leaves a central pawn, uses castling, the special move that moves the king and a rook, and Black moves the bishop to c5.

The typical central strike is to advance White’s e-pawn from e4 to e5, attacking the black knight on f6. If Black responds in the center, several captures can open the e-file, the vertical line running through e1 and e8. Open lines then allow rook checks, bishop attacks, and sequences in which the exact order of captures matters.

White seeks activity before recovering the pawn on d4. Black tries to answer with a timely d-pawn advance, bring the remaining pieces out, and avoid leaving the king exposed in the center. The attack does not run by itself: both players must calculate checks, captures, and threats first, because one intermediate move can change the result completely.