Scandanavian Defence is not always dull

Recently, I've seen a few threads showing games played in the Scandanavian Defence, usually from the perspective of white.  I thought I'd join in, though in this case, the games are from black's perspective.  The first is a pure attacking game while the second is defined by extremely difficult and prolonged defencive maneuvres, dangling on the precipice of crushing defeat.  Both are turn-based.

Game 1:

Game 2:

LongIslandMark: One of the things I really like about Scandanavian is that it sidesteps a lot of the theory and preparation which can go into openings such as the Sicilian and the Ruy Lopez.  This can be the problem you have playing against the opening: the fact that it immediately takes white out of the comfort zone of playing known openings with clear cut plans.  It puts black at a temporary disadvantage, and often does have a tendency to become somewhat more stolid, but it also (especially with moves like Qd8 rather than the more complicated subvariations) forces both players to more quickly start thinking on their own.  There's simply not as much theory, and players are less likely to be well versed in the theory that is there, then in other openings such as the Ruy Lopez or Sicilian.

harryz: which is precisely why I opened this thread.  Saw several Scandanavian threads going along, and watched the opening get pummeled over and over again.  Thought it would be fun to show the opposite perspective, from one who does play the Scandanavian on occassion.  Unfortunately, I originally had more annotations than showed up in the games, but for whatever reason, today, they were not being saved on the game file.  Perhaps I'll try to reannotate it later.

The Scandinavian isn't meant to be dull. Another name for it is the Centre-Counter - the clue is in the name! From move 1, Black is challenging White's centre and is creating tension in the position. The whole idea behind the Scandinavian is to create an unbalanced position.

The problem is that it can sometimes be difficult to play as Black: if you go with 2...Qxd5 (probably the most common) and you're not careful, then White can gain time kicking your Queen around and just all-out attack. OnlineChessLessons on YouTube has a video called "How to beat the Scandinavian Defence" where he recommends exactly this, showing, if I remember correctly, a game where Anand plays White and pushes with g4 and h4 as soon as possible.

Still, the Scandinavian is an opening that can be quite good for Black, especially as a surprise weapon. It has often interested me because the pawn structure is practically identical to the Caro-Kann (among other openings) in some lines, which is currently my usual defence against 1.e4.

Harryz: sure; it should prove interesting.

harryz: of course.  If you're interested, we can play additional games on other variations.  2: ... Nf3 for example rather than QxP.

It's a beautifally, underestimated opening. It's the only opening I have played from day one and still serves me well. My best wins (as black) have been with it.