I need help on the Scandinavian Defense
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After 1 e4 d5...I don't take, I play e5 as white forcing black into a french style opening which sometimes the Scandinavian defense player is not familiar with.
Nov 17, 2016
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#3
Don't listen to Tommy. You always capture. e5 is horrible, it gives Black a French with a good bishop. e5 gives white equality at best.
Nov 17, 2016
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#4
I need to book up on the Scandinavian as well because even when I am making reasonable moves, I suspect my opponent is more familiar with the pawn structures than I am.
One thing I find to be dangerous is trying to hold on to the pawn after some of the lines where black plays c6, e6 or Nf6 instead of recapturing immediately with the Q. I get better results by just continuing with development and castling instead of recapturing with the extra pawn or trying to hold it.
Nov 17, 2016
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#6
In my opinion 2 e5 is perfectly playable but misses the point, which is to challenge black. I don't see how you challenge black after 2 e5.
Possibly helpful:
Starting Out: The Scandinavian by Jovanka Houska (2009)
https://web.archive.org/web/20140627002658/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/hansen129.pdf
The Scandinavian: Move by Move by Cyrus Lakdawala (2013)
https://web.archive.org/web/20140626232217/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/hansen171.pdf
UNDERSTANDING THE SCANDINAVIAN by Sergey Kasparov
http://www.gambitbooks.com/pdfs/Understanding_the_Scandinavian.pdf
The Safest Scandinavian by Vassilios Kotronias
https://www.newinchess.com/Shop/Images/Pdfs/7577.pdf
I used to be a Scandinavian too. Then I became a US citizen. Perhaps thats the best defense.
Nov 17, 2016
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#9
I have a question about the first diagram (Silva vs Cuba) of jengaias posting. Since that looks a lot like a Caro-Kann advanced with white a tempo down, I was wondering if black should go for the typical Nimzovich(?) manoeuvre, namely play 6..cxd4 and after the more or less forced(?) 7 cxd play Qa5+ followed by Qa6. My reasoning is that since the white squared Bishops are off and the white Q is controlling the b1-h7 diagonal facilitating the classic f5 break at a later stage, why not contest the white squares or force white to exchange Queens?
Nov 17, 2016
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#10
tmodel66 wrote:
One thing I find to be dangerous is trying to hold on to the pawn after some of the lines where black plays c6, e6 or Nf6 instead of recapturing immediately with the Q. I get better results by just continuing with development and castling instead of recapturing with the extra pawn or trying to hold it.
I would like to add on the list of books
The 3...Qd8 Scandinavian Simple and Strong by Daniel Lowinger
Nov 18, 2016
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#12
TuckerTommy wrote:
After 1 e4 d5...I don't take, I play e5 as white forcing black into a french style opening which sometimes the Scandinavian defense player is not familiar with.
2.e5 is a horrible move. Black basically gets everything he wants in both the French and the Caro-Kann!
Normally, people think of the French as an aggressive defense, quick development, and going for an immediate attack on d4. The cost? That bad bishop on c8.
The Caro-Kann is viewed as a very slow defense, but at the same time, Black does get that Bishop to be more active and outside the pawn chain at the cost of it taking 2 moves to go from c7 to c5 and attack d4.
After 1.e4 d5 2.e5?, Black should play either 2...Bf5! or 2...c5! (whichever is not played is often played shortly after that...I personally would play 2...Bf5 intending 3...e6 and 4...c5).
I'm going to counter posts 3 and 4 and go as far as to say that Black has an advantage in this line - screw equality!
Look at my blog
Nov 18, 2016
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#14
jengaias wrote:
usernaym wrote:
I have a question about the first diagram (Silva vs Cuba) of jengaias posting. Since that looks a lot like a Caro-Kann advanced with white a tempo down, I was wondering if black should go for the typical Nimzovich(?) manoeuvre, namely play 6..cxd4 and after the more or less forced(?) 7 cxd play Qa5+ followed by Qa6. My reasoning is that since the white squared Bishops are off and the white Q is controlling the b1-h7 diagonal facilitating the classic f5 break at a later stage, why not contest the white squares or force white to exchange Queens?
That manoeuvre is always possible in positions like this but you have to be careful because Nb5 might create problems.
Hi and thank you for the reply. On 9 Nb5 I think Bb4+ is not a good reply as we need the B to guard d6, and the dark squares need not be weakened. Also,after.. BxB+ and KxB white is better developed and ready to bring the R over to c1. So I would not even consider Bb4+, as in the line you give black seems lost to me. 9 Nb5 is not my problem because I will play Qb6 and kick out the knight next move with a6. However, 9 Qb5+ seems to force doubled isolated pawns on a6/a7 after 9..Nc6(Qc6 looks clumsy to me) 10 QxQ ..bxQ, but I guess black gets the b file and has a good game. Thanks again.
Nov 18, 2016
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#15
Smerdon's Scandinavian is the book you want if you are interested in playing the 2...Nf6 Scandinavian. A big book and really good. He also covers 2 e5, 2 Nc3, 2 d4. He considers 2 e5 and 2 d4 dubious.
Nov 18, 2016
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#16
@jengaias, ...wow! Super contribution, cogent and quite substantive. Very nice job!
offtopic but, jengaias, the term "bad bishop" in chess refers to a bishop which is behind pawns of the same color. The term isn't the same "bad piece," it's particular to Bishops which are restricted by pawns. You can argue all day about whether or not bad Bishops are bad pieces in every position but it's semantics. People don't mean offense when they use the term; it's just what they're called. Using that term is not wrong.
That's still generally considered to be a pleasant position for Black and White should be able to do better against the Scandinavian. If you don't like to think of it as a French with the Bishop developed outside of the pawn chain (see how I avoided the controversial term "bad Bishop,") you can think of it as a Caro where Black gets an extra move in for free. Ok, you've made your point, there is still a game, but clearly heading for that kind of position just to get the opponent out of the book is not good chess.
I didn't say only mainlines were good chess. I said giving up a free tempo in the opening is not good chess. Sometimes tempo is bad, not there. These things may be oversimplifications at some level but there is a reason they are taught to beginners and players of all skill levels. As for those other lines I didn't say anything about them either.
opticRED wrote:
... The 3...Qd8 Scandinavian Simple and Strong by Daniel Lowinger
http://www.jeremysilman.com/shop/pc/3Qd8-Scandinavian-The-76p3822.htm
Any tips on the Scandinavian Defense? Thanks in advance! :)