@DavidGaming08 thanks for sharing this idea at first glance I looked at the idea of 3. h3 in horror. It seemed to be a waiting move when we can develop with tempo and perhaps costing a tempo later down the line with having to go h3 h4 instead of just h2 h4.
The more I've looked at this (with a bit of engine help and discovery) the more I can see the point and it's quite clever. The best way to punish h3 is to stop playing the Scandinavian. Ideas like c5 and e5 jump out (giving up the usual c6 and e6 structure).
If your opponents best moves are to do to opposite of what they have planned you'll lead them into very murky waters. If they just play usual moves you get in a useful pawn push to control the g4 square and prepare to target Bf5.
Another line that comes up as liking this is the Qe6+ which is not very standard for your Scandinavian player.
There's an interesting gambit that is just very good for White in the standard position.
Lots of development for a pawn and Blacks Queen is very oddly placed with zero support. This, unsurprisingly, is alot better for White.
With the h3 move white gives up an extra pawn, loses one developed piece and this is now close to an even position (very slight edge for black) despite two pawns being gambitted!
Given that the Scandinavian player that will play Qe6+ knows that the first set of moves is very good for White would they choose to go into this line for the extra pawn and giving away lots of compensation for potentially a very miserable game?
This feels like a clever psychological play for White that gains information or forces black to play against their natural style.
I need a way to counter the Scandi, it appears in like 20%+ in all of my games
Have noticed that as well! It’s been appearing quite a lot.
Would also be interested in tips from some of our chess gurus here. :D
There’s actually a really interesting and pretty new line by the great opening expert Nikolaos Ntirlis in his book Reimagining 1. e4. I don’t play 1.e4 myself, but my best friend does, and since we hang out a lot, I kind of know it too.
I’ll drop a few of his diagrams and annotations here.
“I have a soft spot for the Scandinavian, as I love the simplicity and practicality of it. After the exchange of Black’s d-pawn for White’s e-pawn, Black will have a 4–3 majority of pawns on the kingside. If you’ve read my book Playing the English , you will know why I’m a fan of that pawn structure. Simply put, a Scandinavian player is hoping for a better endgame. It’s like the Caro-Kann, except that here Black virtually forces the desired structure, rather than allowing the option of e4-e5, which is legal but totally ineffective here. The assurance of reaching the desired pawn structure is what makes the Scandinavian such a practical opening choice.”
“Engine games allow us to see how a position might get played out when both sides are playing near-perfect chess. That’s why every top player uses engine games for their preparation, and why opening geeks like me download the latest engine games every month. The names of these two engines might not be familiar to you, but they are both rated over 3350. That’s around 200 points below the top-rated Stockfish, but still stratospherically strong by human standards.”
There are some 20 more pages written about this, but I will not copy all of that. It’s an interesting idea in any case. If anyone needs the book, just DM me, and I can send you in PDF.
I hope it helps. :)