Scandinavian: The Easy Way (Andrew Martin)

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Developer: Chessbase
OS Compatibility: PC
Media: DVD-ROM
System Requirements: 64 MB Ram, Windows 98/2000/XP. Windows Media
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It's easy-to-learn and easy-to-play. Here is an opening for Black which will furnish good results in the shortest possible time. Which other opening could we be referring to apart from the Scandinavian or Centre-Counter Defence; 1 e4 d5 ! International Master Andrew Martin has written extensively on the Centre-Counter and here he turns his attention to 1 e4 d5 2 exd5 Qxd5 3 Nc3 Qd6!? Playing flat out for the win against 1 e4 is never easy, but here we encounter a variation where Black can do just that! All relevant second and third move alternatives for White are covered too! This DVD will be a boon to all chessplayers,but particularly to the busy person with limited time for study or those who wish to incorporate a new defence into their Black repertoire with the minimum possible hassle. This really is the Scandinavian the easy way!

Andrew Martin is 47 years old and lives in Sandhurst, England, with his wife and four children. He has written several best-selling chess books, including the recent "King's Indian Battle Plans" and "Secret Weapons". He writes for ChessPublishing.com and has several monthly columns at chessville.com, JeremySilman.com and for CHESS magazine. He is a noted trainer and coach.

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by Phobetor - 6 months ago
Eindhoven Netherlands

Member Since: Aug 2007
Member Points: 514

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This is also a very good and clear DVD to help you study the Scandinavian. This DVD focuses only on the 3... Qd6 system where black in most main lines goes for the Nf6, a6, b5, Bb7, e6, Nbd7, Be7 setup, unless white prevents him to. Martin does a good job explaining the reasoning behind the moves, and the repertoire he gives looks very reasonable and solid.

One downside I think is that sometimes I watch the DVD and think of another move which looks alot better, like grabbing a pawn somewhere, and he doesn't show how it's refuted. Since I'm pretty good (I'm not trying to be arrogant here, just realistic ) I think there will be more players with the same problems when watching the DVD. Some examples:

- In the 4. g3 chapter, he says at 5:40 that white probably didn't take 15. exf6 because then 15... hxg3 16. fxg3 Qh3+ 17. Kf2 Qxh2+ 18. Ke1 looks dangerous. He says that white should have tried that because 15. Ng1 isn't much better. But what if black plays 15... h3+? Then obviously 16. Kh1 is mate, and 16. Kg1 Qf3 17. Nf4 g5 18. Nxh3 Rxh3 also gives black a (imo) winning attack with 19... Bc5 and 20... Rxh2 coming up.

- In the 6. Ne5 chapter, around 9:00 minutes, he says 15. Nxc6 doesn't work because of 15... Qb7. I'm surprised he didn't mention 16. Bxb5 there, since that seems like a very logical move to me. It threatens mate, wins a pawn, and defends both knights. It took me a while to find 16... Bd7! when white seems to have nothing (17. Nb6 probably being best, leaving white with a rook for two pieces), but I do think it was worth mentioning.

But overall I think the DVD is very good. It shows how easily black can play the opening with his system, and shows how black (almost) always gets equality or better.

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