After 1 e4 d5 2 exd5 Qxd5, to me 3 Nf3 is difficult to deal with.
1 e4 d5 2 exd5 Nf6 is a different way to play the Scandinavian. Generally speaking more tactical. The bible on it is the book Smerdon's Scandinavian. A bit dubious perhaps but on the club level if you learn his book well and are fairly good at tactics it could be a rating points machine, though it may backfire at times of course. A lot to learn but nowhere near the amount of theory involved in 1 e4 e5.
Sergei Tiviajov is probably the highest rated player who regularly uses the Scandinavian (ELO of 2583, and as high as 2699), although even he chooses the Sicilian more often. Past players Ian Rogers and Jacques Mieses played the Scandi regularly, but they, too, played the Sicilian more often.
#20 so you are saying no matter what white plays I still need to play berlin? Is that what you are saying?
You don't get my point here, white has many options to choose from , which opening to play, so why should I rely on berlin I don't understand! !!!???
Kings indian I should play berlin? , Vienna game I should play berlin? ahahaha it's you mate
White has tons of choices and you might not play berlin, then what !?
No, the Berlin is against the Ruy Lopez, which is all Black has to fear.
King's Gambit - There is the simple 2...Bc5 if you want to avoid the wild tactics. Do you still have to study it? Of course! Facing the King's Gambit is like facing Nf3 instead of Nc3 in the Scandinavian. But all you need to do is get out a chess board for maybe 4 hours and iron out a line against the King's Gambit, Vienna, Scotch (I suggest the 4...g6 line as you can transpose directly to the same line in the 3 knights game (3.Nc3 g6)), and 3.Bc4.
These are minor lines where all you need is a line against each. The majority of the theory is in the Ruy Lopez, Just like the majority of the theory in the Scandinavian is 2.exd5 and 3.Nc3, but that does not mean you can get away with not knowing 2.Nc3, 2.e5 (despite that move being bad), 3.Nf3, lines without d4 where the pawn goes to d3, etc, so it is not like you are allieveating your work by switching.
Same goes for any other opening. There are multiple variations. The Ruy Lopez is the main line and where you need to put the bulk of your focus, not ALL of your focus.
It is just like myself. I have to put the bulk of my focus on 3.Nc3 (after 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5), but that does not mean I can bypass the Tarrasch, Advance, or Exchange.
If you are looking for something where you can play the same moves against all lines, you are out of luck. Chess isn't for you if a one size fits all strategy is what you are looking for.
'e5 and all it's thery' it's the defense that has less theory against 1.e4. It's very straightforward. Scandi has tons of thory since move 2. It's way harder if you wanna play it correctly.
With the Petroff you could still play 1...e5 but cut down a lot of the theory. No Ruy Lopez or Giuoco Piano or Evans Gambit to worry about. Plus you'd be the one making your opponent play the line you want
If you play the Scandinavian defense be prepared either to lose tempo or your pawn, because if you play the wrong lines you will be moving your queen around the board really early in the game. If you don't worry about recapturing the pawn till later you can keep tempo
If you play the Scandinavian defense be prepared either to lose tempo or your pawn, because if you play the wrong lines you will be moving your queen around the board really early in the game. If you don't worry about recapturing the pawn till later you can keep tempo
its true black does have to move the queen twice but white also move a piece twice in the opening the pawn on e4 (pawn to e4 and then exd5) so some would say black didnt lose a tempo
If you play the Scandinavian defense be prepared either to lose tempo or your pawn, because if you play the wrong lines you will be moving your queen around the board really early in the game. If you don't worry about recapturing the pawn till later you can keep tempo
its true black does have to move the queen twice but white also move a piece twice in the opening the pawn on e4 (pawn to e4 and then exd5) so some would say black didnt lose a tempo
At this position, it is white's turn; white will have had two pieces developed while black has zero. White essentially gets a free turn in the opening game. I prefer the Sicilian which still develops a central pawn and makes it so that f7 keeps its extra defense, the main weakness to 1. e4, e5
if you move the queen back to d8 yeah thats zero pieces developed but he has other squares to put the queen. then white is developed one piece more than black which is normal. I also think Qd8 is playable but i dont know much about that move. black got flexibility there tho to compensate for it. Lets say white go Bc4 for example then black play e6 at some point and you can argue the bishop isnt ideally placed there
Got Smerdon's Scandinavian delivered today and it's a very nice read so far. However, I don't think choosing the system on a base of avoiding e5 is in any way correct, especially if you're avoiding theory. After 1.e4 d5 2.exd5 Qxd5 or Nf6, White has plenty of ways to respond. I have all of those answers in Smerdon's book, but all answers to 1.e4 e5 in a book about the 'Complete e4'.
In fact, lets go back to the basics here. I think it's wrong to judge an opening purely based on the theory to be learned. If it has only one variation it tends to be a draw with perfect play, or a decisive game because the variation has been analyzed up to the result. The reason openings have a lot of theory is because, well, many openings have been analyzed sufficiently to have theory and therefore you need to understand the system and sometimes precise moves.
The only one system (for Black, White has more due to the move advantage!) I could advise that can be played more as concept rather than very thought out lines is the Lion, a now more respected standalone variation of the Philidor/Pirc. 1.e4 d6 2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3 Nbd7 (https://www.chess.com/openings/B07-Lion-Defense). Nonetheless, even this has specific lines with pitfalls: there is no perfect defense for Black or all games would be boring draws :>.
ESP - is this another one of your tongue-in-cheek posts? If you think 1 e4 e5 is too "sharp" for you, you'll be jumping from the frying pan into the fire with 1 e4 d5.