My first real try at the Scandinavian Defence

Today I've been experimenting with 1... d5 in response to 1. e4. I learned that the name for this is the Scandinavian Defence. Here's my first game trying it seriously - how did I do?

I usually play the scandinavian against e4; it's a good defense but takes some practice to get used to.  In your game some of the opening moves you made that I think could be improved upon are: 2)..Be6, 5)..Qc5.  Playing 2)..Be6 made your position a bit cramped, and if white had played something like 2)Nf3 instead of capturing your position would have remained cramped and you would have had difficulty finishing development by getting your dark-square bishop out and moving out your e pawn; so instead, I would have just went ahead and captured the pawn.  Also, instead of 5)..Qc5 I would have played 5)..Qa5 which is the typical spot for the black queen early in the Scandinavian as it is simply for hard for white to attack the black queen on that square.  

There are only 3 good responses to 1. e4 and 1...d5 is not one of them. My suggestion would be to stick to the tried and true 1...e6, 1...e5, or 1...c5 whichever you are most comfortable with. how's life in alaska? 

I think it's gonna be my standard reply to 1. e5 too! And thanks for the tips, I'll try them next time. The reason I didn't want to capture with the pawn is because white would just recapture with the knight, and I'd be even further behind in development. What justification can you offer for the pawn capture?

Oh of course. I forgot you're the leading expert on replies to 1. e4. Btw, you need to work on your geography, I'm nowhere near Alaska.

Here's another game I just finished with the Scandinavian (obviously it was before I read your thoughts on 2... Be6 jhodge ^.^ ). I haven't annotated it, because a) I only just finished it and b) I think it has quite a few blunders in it. For your viewing pleasure:

Scandinavian,Caro kann, Alekhine, pirc, modern are all fine.

I agree with the original comment but would also toss in the CK as the 4th reasonable counter to 1. e4.  As for the other ones you claim are fine, how often are the Scandinavian, Alekhine, Pirc and/or Modern seen in top play? (That's a rhetorical question mind you)

They're seen enough to prove that they're entirely playable below top level.

Might I interject? You're probably right about those openings not being worthy of being top level - but then, I'm not trying to become a top level player, I'm just going to improve as much as I possibly can. The way I see it, playing dodgy openings and losing because of them probably teaches you a lot more about opening theory than mindlessly following a mainline or variation of an opening played by some famous GM.

I can't say I'm comfortable with that logic. Why would one choose to stagnate instead of experimenting, and learning from it?

You could have played that alot better. I would play c5 it is more sharp and if you know it you will cream people rated under 1000.

Which game are you referring to?

I'm too lazy to go into learning a lot of theory, but I thought the Scandinavian was a gambit. If white doesn't take the pawn on d5, there's no need to be too concerned with defending it. If white takes it, that's just a move that gives doubled pawns, or that delays bringing out another piece

In your games, I would have pushed it to d4, kicking the Knight off c3, then backed it up with a pawn on e5. White would have moved his Knight to g5, and it can be nudged away by a pawn on a6. You are quite likely to want that pawn on a6 to keep the bishop off anyway.

Net result is white gets his Knight back on a3 and black has grabbed central space

If you ever play FIDE masters OTB then I stick by my comment about there only being less than a handful of reasonable replies to 1. e4.  And I do play FIDE masters over the board with regularity, typically the first round of FIDE-rated tournaments in my metro area.  I'd rather have a fighting chance against them with a thoroughly sound opening then play something positionally suspect.

Beginners love the scandanavian because it brings their queen our early.  Although the scandanavian is a perfectly playable opening, by nature it breaks an opening principle and I think beginners can get themselves in trouble by doing so.  I would hardly call this opening the scandanavian because it leaves mainline by move 2.  Focus more on developing your pieces rather than playing a certain opening properly.  The game was won because of tactical errors and had nothing to do with the opening.  You said it yourself on move 2, your opponent deviated already.  There's no point in memorizing opening moves if your opponents are more than likely going to deviate so soon.  2. Be6 is not a natural move. It blocks your central pawns and you end up giving up the bishop pair early.  I personally would've played e5 and kick his knight around.  If he's not careful he can lose the knight.

The Queen doesn't come out early, necessarily. After white takes on d5, black puts the kingside Knight on f6, threatening to take the pawn.

White can defend it, but Black offers up another pawn, on e6, (Icelandic gambit, I think) It is taken and then the light square bishop recaptures. Black has 2 pieces developed to White's one, for the loss of a pawn.

Both bishops are free, while white still has his dark square bishop hemmed in by pawns.

I play this sequence a lot against equal or slightly lower ranked players with mixed success. If I felt that I was losing too many games, I'd give up on it.

As for the earlier advocate of the Sicilian, I do better with Caro-Kann. My rating here went up by about 100pts when I started using it.

Glad to see that mattyf9 plays down the same line that I would

This is a typical example of how the game can proceed. Played this morning for a win

Some interesting thoughts on this opening, but I think I should mention it wasn't my aim to learn the "proper" moves in the Scandinavian, mattyf9. It was more that I was experimenting with 1... d5 in response to 1. e4 (the Scandinavian is defined by these moves, which is why I used the term). But you are right in that beginners (well, me at any rate) like this opening because of the early queen opportunities, but even beginners such as myself know that 1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Qxd5 is a mistake.

But I did like your idea of chasing the knight around, it seems to be a terrific time-waster for white.