Scandinavian Qa5 v. Qd8 v. Qd6

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jmpchess12

Wondering what is people's take on the three Queen Moves for the Scandi after Nc3. I've always played Qa5 but am mulling a change to Qd8 or Qd6.

tygxc

The queen usually ends up at c7 anyway, so the differences are small nuances.
Qd8 is probably most solid
https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1768345

Chess16723
Qa5 and Qd8 are probably both good, Qd6 is less accurate.
pcalugaru

I play the Anderssen 3...Qa5 & the Melts 3...Qd6. I Like both. I believe both are a decent defense for Black

The Qd8 var I'm kind of of skeptical on. With 3...Qa5, & 3...Qd6 Yes, those move do waste a tempo, however they provoke a response by White (Especially with 3...Qa5 ) I look at the moves as a form of baiting White into a known position.

IMO Qd8 doesn't really have that provoking nature about.

The more I play the Center Counter Defense and the better my chess skills get, I see more and more of the pros (why people like it) and the cons (why people don't like it)