I Hate the Scandinavian. How to crush?

There are ways to take advantage of Black's misplaced queen. On a more strategic level, White can rapidly develop the pieces and take central space with d4, while Black's slow grasp of the d5 square with Nf6, e6, and c6 takes much longer. 

I just resign and block when someone plays the Scandi. I don't have time for the same boring game every time. It's always the same super boring ick and I don't have the patience to waste part of my life playing against it.

On the other hand, Black achieves a classical Caro-Kann type formation, without any need to prepare against the Panov-Botvinnik or the CK Advance variation.

The cost of this is the early commitment of Black's Queen.

Actually, no. I LOVE complicated openings. I play the King's Gambit, Grunfeld, and the Alekhine, and no two games are ever alike. The theory on all of those is deep and rich and your opponent can play the opening a zillion ways. It's always fun. The Scandinavian's theory can be written on a small napkin with a Sharpie. I'm serious when I say every game is the same. I hate games that are brutally boring so I just quit. There's nothing about confidence in that.

So answer 1. e4 d5 with 2. d4.

The Blackmar-Diemer Gambit (1. d4 d5 2. e4) is complicated... no?

If you get similar games all the time, you have to deviate yourself. For example, play 3.Nf3 and go for c4,d4,Nc3,Be2,0-0. There is actually some theory, but at your level nobody knows it.

But don't you transpose into a Scandi line yourself with Black, after 1.e4 Nf6 2.Nc3 d5?

Speaking about Scandi structures: how do you handle the Semi-Slav?

The Scandi line of the Alekhine plays out *nothing* like the Scandi. Usually they push e5 and all hell breaks loose. The chessable course has 65 variations just after Nf6. Besides, I usually play slower unrated games against people several hundreds points higher than myself, and only a fraction of those play Nf6 - maybe 1 in 6. Mostly I play mainline theory which has five main variations and several sidelines. It doesn't even compare to the number of possible branchings that the Scandinavian has.

And @Sred - I am familiar with that line and it also isn't very interesting.

The Scandinavian is limited and boring and the opposite of rich. Proof? The chessable Scandi course has 143 variations: that's all they could squeeze out of it. The openings I like have about three times that and the Nepo KG course completely neglects ever single Bc4 line.

Face it, the vast majority of Scandi players use it because they don't have to learn anything in order to do reasonably well. You just trade off your center pawn and settle in for a 70 move snoozefest where one person is up a pawn and nurses it to promotion. No thanks.

Some people call that chess . Karpov is not your favorite player, I guess.

Others have suggested 2.d4 to avoid a dry game, but you could always try 2.Nc3 d4 3.Nce2 e5 4.Ng3 which leads to rich middlegame positions where all the pieces stay on the board and white has good chances for a kingside attack.

1. e4 d5 2. Nc3 dxe4 and what stops Black from playing a Caro-Kann with a whole tempo up?

r

thats the spirit.. I always wanted to be that kind of person. stop.. kill.. continue.

Challenge me

blueemu the difference is that white hasn't commited to d4 yet & his development advantage shouldn't be underestimated.

Jerry_Attrich is an expert in my area who specializes in this line:  he's currently 2125 blitz (99.5th percentile) & has countless wins with his pet opening on here.

mike's in my friends list if you want to see the opening in action... just click on any game he's won.

Nothing stops him. But white is fine in all lines, he can get a position reminiscent of the Rubinstein french. if he wishes he can also play a setup involving Bc4, Nf3, d3 (instead of d4) where the "extra tempo" from black getting to play ...c5 in one move isn't really annoying.

If black wants to punish 2.Nc3 he ought to play 2...d4 3.Nce2 e5 4.Ng3 Be6 and black is probably slightly better because of his space advantage and because white struggles to develop his light squared bishop after 5.c3 a6. However, the chances of an opponent playing these are close to 0, and white's practical chances of outplaying black in the complicated closed positions to follow are fairly high.

It is also a pet line of mine, I probably have a few thousand games in this line and according to my lichess stats I score almost 75% with it against typical opponents between 2300-2500 rated. Although I reach it with the move order 1.Nc3 d5 2.e4

that's how mike transposes to it too... you guys would make a great bughouse team.

2.Nc3 gives nothing. After dxe4 3.Nxe4 Qd5?!: What do you do anyway? I thought you dont want to play the mainlines? There is no good way to avoid them.