Scandinavian Defense

The Scandinavian Defense, 1.e4 d5, is one of the most direct answers to 1.e4. After 2.exd5 Black either recaptures with the queen at once, 2...Qxd5, accepting a small loss of time after 3.Nc3, or plays the modern 2...Nf6 and takes back on d5 with the knight. Both lines are popular at club level because Black reaches a simple, open position with clear development.

The early queen sets the tone for the mistakes. After 2...Qxd5 3.Nc3 Qa5, Black wants to develop the light-squared bishop actively, and that is where most games go wrong. After 4.Nge2 Nf6 5.h3 the pin 5...Bg4?? is not a pin at all, because nothing is behind the knight on e2, and 6.hxg4 wins the bishop. It is the most frequent mistake in our Scandinavian data by a wide margin. With the queen back on d8, after 3...Qd8 4.d3 c6 5.Qf3, the development 5...Bf5?? lands on the f-file in front of the white queen.

White also has a pawn trick against the early queen. After 3...Qa5 4.d4 Nf6 5.d5, the pawn takes away c6, and 5...Nc6?? simply drops the knight to 6.dxc6.

In the modern line, 2...Nf6 3.c4 c6 4.Nc3 Bg4 5.Qa4, Black has given a pawn for development, and the careless 5...b6?? loses at once to 6.dxc6, with the white queen and pawn working together on the a4-e8 diagonal.

The most useful habit in the Scandinavian is to check every bishop move against h3, g4 and the white queen's lines. The Scandinavian Defense study covers both main lines; the Scandinavian main-line page has the most common mistakes with 3...Qa5.