Do you play 2.exd5 following 1.e4 d5??

Sprite, I also play Scandinavian/Center Counter a lot. I don't know the more-line openings very well so I tend to get in trouble with 1 e4 e5 (as black).

I also see a lot of people NOT playing 2. exd4. I read countless times that other moves are "mistakes" but without a whole lot more explanation.

I often see white play 2. e5, and I really don't know what strategy to take when I see that.

I have asked my chess program (no not during games) to figure out good responses to the non-standard responses I see a lot. It helps I guess, but I can't always figure out why the move is good or what strategy I should be pursuing.

I used to play exd, e5, d4, c4 and even f3 ...

Now I play the best move for my style: d3.

Don't look for it anytime soon though since I am mainly a d4 person.

Matt, although I see why you might play that, you have to be really careful, as I've destroyed many a player who thought they'd get creative on their second move, only to lose miserably after being down material.  I can gain some tempo chasing your knight around the board =D.  It all depends on what moves you make from there, but just be cautious.

 Opening with d3 would be...awful.  There's a reason why white's main opening moves are 1.e4 and 1.d4...controlling the center.  Gideon, as long as you can get through the opening without being down more than a pawn or two (with decent position and what not), you don't need to worry too much about openings.  However, as you progress and improve as a chess player, openings will become more important, as there will be many traps you could potentially fall into.

   Experienced chess players has realized that the scandinavian defense has become rather popular lately among club chess players, even chess computers savies are filling their engine books with lines of the Scandinavian defense, for more than has been written about the scandinavian defense and many gambits has been tried against it, there is really not stablished theory or forcing ways for white to push black through the opening, many club players has found this out and are playing the Scandinavian since not much theory is required to plaly it, they just play the first regular moves of the opening and then go on wondering around with their queens and even sometimes castling long without much problem and even creating attacks on white's king side in some cases, there is also a tricky gambit that favors black in the 2...Nf6 variation in which if white is not careful will get in trouble rather quickly, I have been playing chess for a long time and after playing against  some club players over the internet in some fast and slow games I decided that i was not going to allow a player with less experience than mine to have that kind of fun of just wondering around with their queens without any consequences, so I got my computer programs and started working on a line that had not been tried often against the scandinavian to my surprice my computer programs give this lines good evals and that's what I have been using against players over the internet, now when they play me they quickly find themselve having to make strong decicions from very early in the opening, the lines that i have been trying are as follow

1.e4 d5 2.exd Qxd5 and now to most of Scandinavian players surprice i play 3.Qf3!? and one of a sudden this has nothing to do with what they may know', if they exchange queens, then they have to play real chess with no queens on the board, something that is not to the liking on many Scandinavian defense players, they have tried many things here against me ex:

1.e4 d5 2.exd Qxd5 3.Qf3!? Nf6 4.c4 and now they have to make a decicion, some of them try here 4..Qa5 pinning my d pawn hoping to get 5...e5 in and keep going with their craziness to which I reply 5.Qc3 and they are forced to make a decicion once again, they try many different things here 5..Qxc3 6.bxc e5 i can either play 7.d4 or 7.d3 here both are ok, going back to 5.Qc3, they have also tried 5..Qb6 but after 6.c5 or d4 I am ok

a different try against "my line" has been 1.e4 d5 3.exd Qxd5 4.Qf3!? Qe5+ i call this move the annoying monkey move, since there is a saying in chess "monkey sees check monkey gives check", but ok not problem i can annoy too 5.Qe3 and now monkey has to make up his mind 5..Nc6 6.Qxe5 Nxe5 7.d4 and now who is annoying who? yes I know where the zoo "is at" too :-) if they play 5...Qxe3 simple 6.dxe3 would do just find and now is a matter of who plays better chess with not queens on the board 6..Bf5 (trying to annoy again, no problem 7.Bb5+ followed by 8.Ba4

another thing that's been tried against "my line" 1.e4 d5 2.exd Qxd5 3.Qf3!? is 3..Be6 trying to annoy with the fact that if i play 4.Qxd5 then 4..Bxd5 doesn't allow white to develop the king side properly, no problem then instead of 4.Qxd5 i play the annoying 4.c4, the issue is that you have to ANNOY the Scandinavian player because if you don't they will do it to you, many don't belive in chess theory or anything THEY JUST LIKE TO ANNOY 

another try against "my line has been 1.e4 d5 2.exd Qxd5 3.Qf3!? and now 3..Qa5 running away from real chess like a chicken, but guess what..not so fast!! didn't you want to be tough and put your queen out there so early NOW DEAL WITH THIS 4.Qc3!, you know the drill by now ANNOY THE ANNOYER !!

I garantee you that if you are one of the guys who plays the same Scandinavian player more than a couple of games one after the other, once you do this to him several times he won play you anymore or either he will go back home and try to find out how to refute your Qf3 move, guess what?? ANNOYING MONKEY! there is not way to refute it other than the fact that white is accepting to play with no queens on the board since very early in the opening and that should give black some hopes, but guess what? .. also if you are just an annoying monkey and not a real chess player you better run and not exchange queens because WE WILL JUST OUTPLAY YOU!! :-) 

 OH wait! i forgot, guess what?, by now maybe the 2.Nf6 Scandinavian players should be saying to themselve "you can't do that to me"  .... really? ok let's see 1.e4 d5 2.exd Nf6 3.Nc3 :-) that's right you know what's coming 3..Nxd5 4.Nxd5 Qxd5 5.Qf3!? and now is even worse because i am not too far away from castling long in this one

never worry about QxQ NxQ and Bg4 because Ne5 that's right ANNOYS that bishop right away

"I got my computer programs and started working on a line that had not been tried often against the scandinavian. If they exchange queens, then they have to play real chess with no queens on the board, something that is not to the liking on many Scandinavian defense players."

It's called the "Dancing Queens" variation... a pet line of Ray Gordon. If you Google it you'll find commentary by him, myself, and some experts. It's rarely played because it hands Black equality after 3.Qf3? Qxf3!

Achieving equality as Black in three moves is to the liking of most players.  :) 

"I often see white play 2. e5, and I really don't know what strategy to take when I see that. I have asked my chess program (no not during games) to figure out good responses to the non-standard responses I see a lot. It helps I guess, but I can't always figure out why the move is good or what strategy I should be pursuing."

1.e4 d5 2.e5? is intimidating at first, but easily met once you get the hang of it. I wrote a whole article on the ideas behind this move back in April:

 http://likesforests.blogspot.com/2007/04/beating-1e4-d5-2e5.html

It's called the "Dancing Queens" variation... a pet line of Ray Gordon. If you Google it you'll find commentary by him, myself, and some experts. It's rarely played because it hands Black equality after 3.Qf3? Qxf3!

Achieving equality as Black in three moves is to the liking of most players.  :) 

DeepNf3: no they don't reach equality playing against me if they exchange queens early, for them to reach equality after playing 3..Qxf3 means they will have to play master level chess from that poing on whish I don't think many lazy Scandinavian chess players can do, that's the reason many people play the Scandinavian because they don't like to play "deep" chess, sorry if I offended anybody, but that's the true

bisides, that line 3.Qf3 variation had been played  only a few times in chess tournament history, and I don't know where you are hidding your work on the line because I went "up and down" the internet and could not find your work on it, come on! ...forest you are not even an expert, and who is this Ray Gordon anyways, there is only one guy Ray (Raymond Gordon) in USCF ratins and he is rated 680, and at FIDE there is no Ray Gordon anywhere to be found, so stop it with your "Dancing Queens" nonsense, who a master or expert is going to call a variation of the Scandinavian "Dancing Queens"?..

 I will give you a little history of where that variation 3.Qf3 idea comes from:

 remember this? 1.e4 d5 2.d4 blackmar-D Gambit 2..dxd 3.f3 exf 4.Qxf3 this is a line that involves a two pawn sacrifice and was played for the first time long time ago, it is streamly tricky, after some chess players started working on this line deeply and winning against it, then they came up with the 3.Qf3 idea which has only been seen a few times in tournament play, if exchanging queens early in the opening meant equality for black the line 1.e4 e5 2.d4 d6 would be played all the time and that is not the case, just to give you an example Radjabov (black pieces) tried to play this line against Carlsen and he lost in spectacular fashion

oh I just clicked on your link! ..why didn't i guess this sooner.. you are one of those tactics tactics tactics guys who follow Michael de la maza's crazy method

"i found a link"

but you ARE the links-springer, the Knight of the Links.

2 Nc3 d4 or 2 Nf3 dxe4 are excellent for black. If white does not want 2 exd5, then 2 d4 is better.