Openings
Scandinavian Defense in Chess - The Basics
Here's everything you need to know about the Scandinavian Defense, one of the best-known openings in chess. If you're just starting out and you're looking for an original weapon to catch your opponents off guard, you're in the right place. In this guide we look at what the Scandinavian Defense actually is, its main variations, how to play against it as White, and the player who made it famous.
What Is the Scandinavian Defense?
The Scandinavian Defense chess opening is Black's reply to 1.e4, arriving right after White's very first move.
White's dream is to build a big pawn duo on e4 and d4. That leaves Black with a choice. Black can let that center form and challenge it later, as in the French Defense or the Caro-Kann Defense. Black can fight for the d4 square directly, with a pawn on c5 or e5. Or Black can attack the e4 pawn head-on.
The Scandinavian goes for that third option, 1...d5 (see our guide to algebraic chess notation if you need a refresher).
The move d5 does more than fight for the center. It's also a developing move, since it clears a path for the light-squared bishop to get out early. Developing that bishop is one of the classic headaches in plenty of e4 openings, and the Scandinavian Defense solves the problem almost for free.
The trade-off comes after 2.exd5, when Black has to decide how to recapture.
Recapture with the queen and she'll come under attack, handing White time to develop. Or play the knight to f6 and win the pawn back a move later. That knight will then have to move at least twice, and it risks being chased a second time. Either way, White ends up ahead in the race to develop.
Of course, you can't have everything for free in chess; every opening carries its own strengths and weaknesses. Despite its flaws, the Scandinavian Defense is a genuinely exciting opening to play. It stays rare at the very top, but it is not unheard of. Vishy Anand surprised Garry Kasparov with it in game 14 of their 1995 World Championship match, and Magnus Carlsen has pulled it out from time to time, most famously to beat Fabiano Caruana at the 2014 Olympiad with the quiet 3...Qd8.
Why is it called the Scandinavian Defense? The name comes from the Scandinavian masters who analyzed it and gave it a following around the turn of the twentieth century, the Swedish Collijn brothers above all. The opening itself is far older, and it shows up in what is often called the first recorded game of modern chess, played in Valencia in 1475.
The Basics of the Scandinavian Defense
Let's dig a little deeper into what makes this opening tick. Black is trading a small amount of time for open lines and a piece, the light-squared bishop, which develops itself with almost no effort. That single trade is the whole personality of the Scandinavian Defense. Black hands White a small head start in development, and gets in exchange an easy life for the bishop that most 1.e4 defenses struggle to activate, plus a half-open d-file to work with.
The Main Variations of the Scandinavian Defense
Here are the main variations of the Scandinavian.
The Qxd5 Variation
1.e4 d5 2.exd5 Qxd5 3.Nc3
Once the black queen recaptures on d5, White almost always develops the knight to attack her and pick up a tempo. Black then has several options.
3...Qa5, the most popular line in the whole opening.3...Qd6, a sharp line developed by grandmaster Sergei Tiviakov and by World Champion Vladimir Kramnik.- The solid
3...Qd8, rarely played but not nearly as easy to refute as it looks. - The check
3...Qe5+, which isn't as bad as it seems as long as Black remembers to follow up with c6 quickly, giving the queen a diagonal retreat on c7 after her trip to the middle of the board. It's a line often chosen by beginners.
The Nf6 Variation
1.e4 d5 2.exd5 Nf6
The main idea is that White ends up in a genuinely bad strategic position by clinging to the extra pawn.
For example, after 3.c4 c6 4.dxc6 Nxc6, we reach the position below.
Black has already developed two pieces, and, more importantly, has a lovely outpost waiting on d4 for a knight. Practice has shown these advantages are worth far more than the missing pawn.
The Portuguese Scandinavian
After 2...Nf6, White more commonly answers by pushing the pawn to d4.
The idea is that it doesn't much matter if the black knight grabs the pawn on d5. White plans to follow up with c4 and build a beautiful pawn center, with every chance of dominating and suffocating Black.
But Black has a genuinely dangerous gambit available here, 3...Bg4.
That's the Portuguese Variation of the Scandinavian, a strange piece of chess geography.
A gambit is the offer of a pawn in the opening in exchange for development time. That's exactly Black's plan here, rushing pieces into the game as fast as possible. It's obviously a complex, highly tactical line.
How to Play Against the Scandinavian Defense
Here's an original and simple way to meet the most popular line, the Qxd5 Variation.
1.e4 d5 2.exd5 Qxd5 3.Nc3 Qa5 4.Nf3
The first idea is to delay pushing the d-pawn, so as not to give Black a target. White develops both knights first, then the light-squared bishop, to get ready to castle kingside.
4...Nf6 5.Be2 Bf5
White's development looks fairly modest so far. But White has been waiting for the black c8 bishop to come out before grabbing the initiative.
6.b4!
The key move of the whole plan. It's an original way to try to exploit the exposed black queen. Black now has two main options.
- After
6...Qxb4 7.Rb1, White regains a pawn on b7 with great piece activity. Following up with moves like Rxb7 and Nb5, White edges dangerously close to the black king, who hasn't castled yet. - After
6...Qb6 7.d3, White keeps harassing the black queen, this time with Be3. Once White castles, development is complete and the position stays interesting.
That's a simple, original way to meet the Scandinavian Defense. There are other anti-Scandinavian setups out there, but in our view none of them are nearly as convincing.
The Player Who Made the Scandinavian Famous
The Danish grandmaster Bent Larsen is, without question, the defining player of the Scandinavian throughout its history. Here's his most famous game with it, a win against World Champion Anatoly Karpov.
Click through the moves to follow the position.
The Scandinavian on the Modern Blitz Scene
More recently, the well-known French streamer Kevin Bordi has played the Scandinavian with Black almost exclusively, with very good results in blitz (games with five minutes per side) and other fast time controls. That said, Kevin hasn't played classical long games in quite a while.
Here's one of his games, a good showcase of the opening's strengths.
As you can see, castling long is definitely on the table for Black in the Scandinavian. The game tends to get sharp and tactical from there. The open d-file, with a rook already sitting on it, is a serious asset for Black, and the white king can end up in real trouble. Things can heat up fast on the board with this opening.
Notice too how the black queen swings from the queenside over to the kingside, a maneuver that's often paired with a direct attack on the opponent's castled king aimed at delivering mate.
Your Move
That was our guide to the Scandinavian Defense. We hope it helps you win a few games with it.
- Discover the Sicilian Defense, another sharp way to meet
1.e4with Black - Learn the basics of the Italian Game with White
- Explore the Alekhine Defense, another offbeat way to answer
1.e4 - Browse our overview of the main chess openings to see where the Scandinavian fits in
That's it for our article on the Scandinavian. Feel free to share it if you enjoyed it.