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Scandinavian Defense

1.e4 d5

Black challenges e4 at once with 1...d5, recapturing on d5 with the queen or, in the Modern lines, with the knight.

Fun fact: The Scandinavian is arguably the oldest recorded opening. It appears in the Catalan poem Scachs d'amor, written around 1475. Source

Practice this opening

The idea

With 1...d5, Black hits the e4 pawn on the first move instead of preparing to. After 2.exd5, which is generally considered White's only try for an advantage, Black gets the pawn back with 2...Qxd5 or 2...Nf6 and ...Nxd5.

The price is time. A queen on d5 can be chased by Nc3, so Black has to decide where it goes next. In return Black gets easy development and a solid pawn structure, often with ...c6 and ...e6, similar to the Caro-Kann.

Plans for White

Take on d5, then develop with tempo. Nc3 hits a queen on d5, and d4, Nf3 and Bc4 or Bd2 follow naturally. White's extra central pawn on d4 gives more space, and White can castle either side.

Against 2...Nf6, keeping the pawn is tempting but usually costs time. Most players return it and take the lead in development and space.

Plans for Black

Get the pawn back, put the queen on a safe square (a5, d6 or d8), and develop quickly: ...Nf6, ...Bf5 or ...Bg4, ...c6 and ...e6. The light-squared bishop comes out before ...e6, so it isn't shut in as in the French.

Black's position is solid but a little passive, so the plan is to finish development and then challenge White's center with ...c5 or ...e5.

Watch out for

For Black, the queen. Each time it is hit, Black loses a move, so choose a square where White can't keep gaining time, and don't put it where a knight on b5 or e4 can hit it again.

For White, grabbing material in the 2...Nf6 lines. Holding on to the d5 pawn, for example with c4 and Bb5+, can leave White behind in development against a quick ...e6 or ...c6.

History

The opening appears in a fictional game between Castellví and Vinyoles in the poem Scachs d'amor, and in Lucena's book of 1497. It was long called the Center Counter Defense. The name Scandinavian took over around 1979, recognizing the Swedish player Ludvig Collijn's role in rehabilitating it.

Bent Larsen beat World Champion Anatoly Karpov with it at Montreal 1979, Viswanathan Anand played it against Garry Kasparov in the 1995 PCA World Championship, and Magnus Carlsen beat Fabiano Caruana with it at the 2014 Olympiad.

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