Forums

Scandinavian Defense

Sort:
WCPetrosian
WCPetrosian
Oct 22, 2019
0
#21

Morphys-Revenge, with that handle choice I would expect 2...Nf6 to be your best Scandinavian. happy.png

Gozu
Gozu
Oct 22, 2019
0
#22
dannyhume wrote:
I tried playing the Scandinavian 3...Qa5 a couple years ago for a lot of the same reasons. I ended up being able to play 3...Qa5 in a whopping 3 out of 11 OTB games against other U1400 players. It was annoying as heckfar. Several times the daggone opponent would sit there debating to himself whether to take on e4 on move 2 or whether to play Nc3 on move 3. I knew that — every single fudging time— when they thought about it for more than 20 seconds that they would play some dipship move that I wasn’t good enough to refute outright, because they were too scared that I would crush them with a spectacular miniature using my stupid dope book moves. The games were interesting in retrospect, I guess. Sorry for the gratuitous language. That is not who I am nor who I aspire to be.

Haha

Failmove
Failmove
Oct 23, 2019
0
#23

I'm very happy with this defense. I've been playing 3...Qd6 and 3...Qd8 Scandi and my results are much better than with 1e4 e5. 

 

Sred
Sred
Show your flair!
Oct 23, 2019
0
#24
TomasThrainsson wrote:

 

ThrillerFan wrote:

 

Well, yes and no!

 

1...e5, 1...e6, 1...c5, and 1...c6 are all considered more sound than the other 16 legal moves, which range from slightly worse than the big 4 (i.e. 1...d6) to outright bad (i.e. 1...h5).

 

The problem with your logic is that not everyone has to follow the "main line" to get a great game as White.  Yes, White doesn't have much of a choice aside from 2.exd5, but after 2...Qxd5, White is under no obligation to play 3.Nc3 in order to get an advantage.  In face, I don't play 3.Nc3.  I play 3.Nf3!  There is a lot of theory in the 3.Nf3 line that is completely different than 3.Nc3.

 

Another option is 3.d4, though that line is not as strong.

 

Nf3 is easily refuted by playing Bg4 right away, pinning the knight to the queen. Of course there's theory involved there like everywhere else. I'm an avid Scandi player and have yet to meet a stronger 3rd move than Nc3, to which I prefer the Qd8 line. Still it holds true that every opening is refuted by default if you play it badly enough

 

Bg4 is certainly no "refutation" of Nf3. Black needs to learn theory here, specifically when it comes to

and with correct play White will not be worse (which the term "refutation" implied). Actually White may get quite a dangerous initiative on the Queen side.

MorphysMayhem
MorphysMayhem
Show your flair!
Oct 23, 2019
0
#25
brink2017 wrote:

Morphys-Revenge, with that handle choice I would expect 2...Nf6 to be your best Scandinavian.

My kill rate with black is 57% 😎

If my opponent whimps out and pushes the e-pawn rather than capturing on d5- it pops up to 65% 🤩🤩

WCPetrosian
WCPetrosian
Oct 23, 2019
0
#26
Sred wrote: Bg4 is certainly no "refutation" of Nf3. Black needs to learn theory here, specifically when it comes to and with correct play White will not be worse (which the term "refutation" implied). Actually White may get quite a dangerous initiative on the Queen side.

 

Sred, in your diagram yes that is an unpleasant setup for black to face in 2...Qxd5 3 Nf3. However, unless I'm somehow mistaken, it seems to me black can choose to dodge that specific line and transpose it into lines from Smerdon's Scandinavian (2...Nf6) by playing ... Nf6 early on instead of ...0-0-0. For example, After 1 e4 d5 2 exd5 Qxd5 3 Nf3 Bg4 4 Be2 Nf6 5 d4 Nc6 6 c4 Qf5 7 Be3 (the same setup for white as in your diagram, and black is also the same except ...Nf6 has been played instead of ...0-0-0) Smerdon gives 7...e5! and moves involving 8 d5, 8 dxe5. In the 8 dxe5 lines there is a line he gives in which black ends up a pawn down but Smerdon says Black has excellent compensation for the pawn.