The Scandinavian Defense

Many players choose to open with this, but if you play this wrong as black, you can very easily lose the game quickly. The Scandinavian Defense goes like this: 1. e4, d5. Pxp isn't technically part of it, but it is white's best move, so all of the variations will be on that. The Scandinavian Defense is shown below. After 3. pxp, Option 1 is Qxp. Option 2 is Nf6. The recommended move is Nf6. White wins more games statistically than black, but this is because he has a lead in development. One of black's best options is to trade a pawn to steal that lead. Remember that the whole opening is solely based on development for fast attacks.

Option 1

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2. Qxp. This is a very bad move. There are some variations to this, but they all lead to bad news. All that white has to do to boot the queen is 3. Nc3. White has 2 options after this. One is to play 3. Qa5. This is probably the better choice to shoot right after the queenside. The other is to put the king in check by playing 3. Qe5+. This is more common, but still very bad. Black just developed another piece for white. White plays 4. Be2. Another common mistake is 4. Bg4. All that white does is 5. f3, Bh5 6. g4, Bg6 (not normally a good move, but in this case, it is ok).

Position after black's move 6

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You reach a position shown to the left. You will notice that It would be difficult to do and easy- to- block if the black queen attempted to hop onto h4+. After Bg6, the suggested move is 7. d4 to open up the dark bishop and gain time and space in the center. White has a much better advantage over black because of the development. There is nothing more important in chess opening play than development. After g4, you should castle queenside because of the weakened pawn structure on the kingside. After d4, black might play 7. Qf6 to try to hop onto h4+. White has 2 good moves here. One is 8. h4. The other is 8. g5 being covered by the just released bishop. It's up to you from then on, but one of the best things you can do is develop while chasing the queen around.

Option 2

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2... Nf6. This is a very good move. Black sacrifices a pawn for a lead in development. Now white can simply waste black's time by letting him take it (3. d4, Nxp 4. c4), but you can also try to hold onto the pawn by playing 3. c4 (the only way to do so). Both can be good options. However, black has a strong move: 3. Bf5. You can admire the position to the left, but black has 2 pieces developed with a hole for his queen to go. Black will attempt to castle queenside and hopefully regain the pawn. The Scandinavian Defense leads to quick queenside development and quick queenside castling. White can develop, but not as quickly.

Position after black's move 5

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Say that white moves 4. Nc3. A good move for black is 4. c6. Why? That just un-doubles his pawns. But, it also develops yet another piece into the center and black is one step closer to castling. One difference between kingside and queenside castling is that it is ok to have a pawn hole in front of the king. It is less safe, but not that bad. Black is looking a lot better than white. So the Scandinavian Defense can lead to either fast development for white, or fast development for black. If you play it right, this might be your best opening, but do not play it wrong or it will blow up in your face.