Rock Solid Opening for Black: the Scandinavian with 3..Qd6

On Friday the 01. April FIDE Master Barth offers a free chess course with the topic: A Rock Solid Opening for Black - The Scandinavian with 3..Qd6.

1. It's far from rock solid
2. 3.Nf3

The course deals with the variation 3. Nc3 Qd6. The other lines like 3. c4, 3. d4. 3.Nf3 are also important, but in this course only 3. Nc3 is analysed.

"Rock solid" sounds like some PR spin from a freshly opened can of corporate speech. It's like saying Black's position before the first move is rock solid - it gives no information on why we should consider this a useful line.

What is the Queen doing there ? Why isn't it bad that the Queen blocks development of the dark-squared Bishop on that diagonal ?

Does it only work with 3.Nc3 as shown or does it apply to 3.Nf3 (which I'm playing) as well ?

Which famous GMs or Super-GMs play this line ? Are there any famous games with it ?

Try to give a better teaser, please.

@JasonCarnage :

Please your rating here is only 1282 so we could argue u cast doubts on something u don't know...

Scandinavian with Qa5, Qd6, and even Qd8 are known to be rock solid, when u see the structure.

Just trust what stronger players offers to u, watch and try to understand instead of denying with your lower level...

It is free so u have nothing to lose by giving it a try.

i USED TO PLAY THIS VARIATION

My coach is an IM with two GM norms and he thinks the 3...Qd6 is dubious: the queen is just too much of a target.  IIRC correctly he mentions a line with g3 intending not just Bg2 but also Bf4.

In any case I've started playing 3.Nf3 just so I don't have to deal with Black's choices.  I showed one of my games to my coach and he says now he is going to start playing 3.Nf3 himself.  So sometimes the student teaches the coach, but in any event, despite my low rating (though right now it is based on one game -- I have been 1900+ both USCF and FIDE in the past), if I dispute 3...Qd6 being rock solid, is it ok since I have the backing of my coach?

Thank you for the kind suggestion, but I'll remain the only person who decides what I do and what I do not post. You are, of course, completely free to dislike it, I'm fine with that.

The line is solid as gravel for one and waste of time if you like playing playable positions.  White licks their chops when they see this line, seriously.  

Just trying to put a new spin on some old garbage.  It is in fact PR.

Jason Carnage you are correct about what you said in both posts.  Good for you to not worry about what non-playing chess snobs think; they love to criticize lower rated players to mask their insecurity and fear of actually playing and maybe losing a game and a sacred rating point.  

Thanks pfren and I want to say I mean no disrespect to the OP or the other titled master who has posted.  But please remember sometimes a class player has something to contribute, because you never know if their coach is a titled master!

Did i say something bad about Jason Carnage?

I just meant your rating here probably shows u know little about this opening, and a stronger player could teach you something useful.

So just casting doubt on it seems a negative approach.

It was not an elitist comment or something like this, but titled players are always seen like arrogant when they just want to help...

If u don't have time to waste for lesson offered by a strong player, what do u want?

Maybe u should ask the coach going at your home, for free, and repeating his lesson only for you, when u want and for the time u want?

I already explained what I wanted in post #4.

A teaser that helps me decide whether I want to watch this or not. It's interesting because it's rock solid and no more information given just didn't appeal to me.

You seem to believe that just because something is free I need to happily chase it - I'm not that poor or desperate. If I find something sounds interesting, I'll watch it, if not, then not.

And if I want a coach coming to my home and do a lesson at a time I find convenient, then I'll pay him something worth his time. But that's neither here nor there, is it ? Because that's not what the offer is about and you'd not be the coach I would choose if I payed for one.

since 1962, there were many games, and particularly this one (comments by M.Marin on chessbase) :

U have this one too, the same olympiad (where Carlsen first meet it with white pieces before playing it with black, winning with both sides!):

Karjakin didnt find a good way to refute it, so few people must be able to.

But sure, before playing like this, its better to play Qa5 or Qd6 in my opinion.

@sargentoabel

Thank you, that was very informative! 

@pfren

lol, good one. Not every trainer is an emotionally delicate flower, though.

Well, Jason Carnage may not have a high rating, but everything he says seems entirely sensible and often agreed with by players who do have high ratings.

You often see weird and wonderful openings promoted by someone who has made a video or written an article.  Usually mainstream theory is right and the article or video wrong, not always, but usually.

Qd6 4. Knb5  You might as well Qd8 No? Or never 2.d5 Isn't there so much better response to e4 then this? e5 or c5 has and always will be the answer to e4. It is known.

One of the serious books on 3..Qd6 was: Michael Melts - Scandinavian Defense: The Dynamic 3...Qd6. I am glad to hear that Kotronias wrote a book about 3..Qd6. He has a important game against Tiviakov.

Also there are important theoretical articles in New in Chess by Tiviakov and Sergey Kasparov.

But the aim is to teach players with a rating 1000-1500 a solid system and to spend more time learning middle- and endgames.

On the level mentioned most of the players don`t play the mainlines, so it is important for the learning student to deal with basic middlegame structures.

Thank you pfren for the information.

Vassilios Kotronias: The Safest Scandinavian, Chess Stars 2016

"Today I believe that the 3...Qd6 Scandinavian is a safe and sound opening for all levels. I have spent so many hours trying to refute it, bashing my head against its solid walls, only to end up respecting it myself. The fruits of my work and analyses are presented below. I included games played before 20.1.2016" Kotronias

Solid are the Berlin and the Caro Kann, the Scandinavian is just playable, and funny too.

GM Spragget annotated the humiliating defeat of the Qd6 Scandinavian by Shirov over Tiviakov 2010. I tried to include the notes, but it won't go through the Chess.com software, so I'm posting the PGN below:

[Event "Unive Crown Group"] [Site "Hoogeveen NED"] [Date "2010.10.26"] [Round "2"] [White "Shirov,A"] [Black "Tiviakov,S"] [Result "1-0"] [WhiteELO ""] [BlackELO ""] [[Eco "B01"] [Annotator "GM Spraggett"] [Source ""]  1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Qxd5 3. Nc3 Qd6!? 4. d4 Nf6 5. Nf3 c6 6. Ne5 Nbd7 7. f4!? {This appears to be Shirov's patent, having already played it successfully  on several previous occasions.  The Knight on e5 is now solidly implanted inside Black's territory and is quite annoying.  Trading it off requires some preparation and Black must be careful not to ignore his own development in the meantime.} Nb6!? ({Too passive is} 7... e6?! 8. g4! c5 9. g5 Nd5 10. Ne4 Qc7 11. c4 {with a big edge, as in  Shirov- Kurkowski  at the 2010 Scarborough CC Shirov simul}) 8. g4! {A super-aggressive move typical of Alexi's style.  White wastes no time gaining space and already threatening to push Black's pieces back.  Nisipeanu , in 2007, now tried 8...g6 against Shirov and was able to make a draw, but only after some suffering.  No doubt Tiviakov was aware of this game and did not want to see what improvement White had up his sleeve....} Nbd5!? 9. Bg2!? ({This appears to be a new move, 2 other games in my database continued with the immediate 9.g5  Perhaps Alexi had prepared it at home, or perhaps he simply did not want to go into the line} 9.g5 Nxc3 10 bxc3 Qd5!?) g6 10. g5 Nxc3 11. bxc3 Nd5 12. c4! {Black is pushed back, but has a solid position without any real weaknesses} Nc7 13. c5 Qd8 {No doubt Tiviakov was satisfied with his position, he has d5 and f5 under control.  White has pushed  back Black's pieces but at the price of creating a lot of weaknesses in his pawn structure; Black need only find the time to develop his pieces and then play ...f6 and ...Ne6 to have White on a full scale retreat!  And the immediate sacrifice on c6 (2 pieces for a Rook and 2 pawns) could quickly turn against White.} 14. d5!!! {The move that was supposed to be impossible!  This is the remarkable thing that I mentioned earlier about Shirov's attacking games: while most other attackers would have avoided this position for the reasons given in the previous note, Alexi's resourcefulness, imagination and tremendous energy allow him to seek hidden ideas that justify his seemingly reckless up the board and 'Dam the Consequences' style of attacking! Often I am reminded by similarities between Shirov's style of play and that of the young Paul Keres (1916-1975, Estonia).  Keres' attacking skills were second to none in terms of bravura.  Witness the following example taken from a game against former world champion Max Euwe, remarkably similar to the Tiviakov game: see below} cxd5!? ({Now if} 14... Nxd5?! {Black gets into worse trouble than in the game after} 15. c4! f6 {forced as retreating will lose material}  16. cxd5 fxe5 17. Qa4! Bd7 18. dxc6 bxc6 19. Bb2 {and it is difficult to suggest a constructive move for Black.})15. c4! ({Another powerful blow to Black's center! If now} 15. c4 Bg7 16. cxd5 O-O 17. O-O (17. Bb2 f6) 17... Bf5 18. Qb3 Rb8 19. Be3 {and White dominates the game. Horrible as it may appear, perhaps this is what Black should seriously consider playing! Or if}) (15. c4 Be6? 16. cxd5 Bxd5 17. Qa4! {and Black can call it quits...}) e6!? {There is really nothing better, though it weakens the dark squares considerably!  I think Tiviakov must have been worried about his position at this point.  In particular, Black has no obvious reply to White's next 'natural' move} 16. Bb2! {As natural as a baby's smile....White threatens indirectly the Rook on h8. Moving it to g8 [16...Rg8] seems  laughable, and simple moves such as 17.Rc1 continue to pile on the pressure.  In particular, where will Black put his King?} Bg7 17. Nc6! {Great champions make it seem easy!   After the forced exchange of White's Knight for the Black Bishop on g7, White will become unchallenged master of the dark squares in Black's camp.  Worse still, Black's remaining pieces will have no good squares.  Black is completely helpless!} bxc6 18. Bxg7 Rg8 19. Be5! Bd7 20. O-O Rb8 21. Qa4 Rb7 22. Rab1 Qc8 23. Rxb7 Qxb7 24. Rf2 d4 25. Qa5 Kd8 26. Be4 1-0      {I almost feel sorry for Tiviakov here!  Without committing any perceptible error, he has a position that looks as though he is a beginner in a simul against the local champion....White needs only castle, put a Rook on the b-file and play Qa4  to make the pressure unbearable.  I invite the readers to take a look at how Shirov put away his opponent in just a handful more move.  A great effort by Shirov!}