ChessScreenshot

English Opening: Anglo-Scandinavian Defense

1.c4 d5 2.cxd5 Qxd5 3.Nc3 Qa5 · A10

Part of English Opening

Starting positionWhite to move

0 / 12

The queen on d5 is always a target

  1. 1.
  2. 2.
  3. 3.
  4. 4.
  5. 5.
  6. 6.

The idea

Black meets 1.c4 with ...d5 and recaptures with the queen, reaching a Scandinavian structure where White has a free tempo in the centre.

Main line: 1.c4 d5 2.cxd5 Qxd5 3.Nc3 Qa5 4.Nf3 Nf6 5.d4 c6 6.Bd2 Qc7

What White wants

  • Gain time on the queen with Nc3 and d4
  • Build the centre and develop with Bf4 or Bd2
  • Play for a space advantage against a slightly loose black setup

What Black wants

  • Retreat the queen to a5 or c7 and develop solidly
  • Play ...c6, ...Bf5 and ...e6 and hold the centre
  • Trade pieces and neutralise the extra white tempo

Key idea

Understand this and the moves stop needing to be memorised.

The queen on d5 is always a target

Recapturing on d5 with the queen is the natural move, but Nc3 arrives with tempo and the queen must go to a5 or d5-a5-c7, spending the game's opening moves on itself instead of on development.

Common mistake

Chasing the queen with moves that develop nothing. Black is solid after ...Qa5 and ...Qc7, so White's edge is the centre with d4 and the extra space — Nc3, Nf3, d4 and Bd2, not Nb5 or Ne5 raids that lose time.

Representative position

The position this opening is aiming at. Copy the FEN, or open it in the analysis board and let the engine tell you what it is worth.

rnb1kb1r/ppq1pppp/2p2n2/8/3P4/2N2N2/PP1BPPPP/R2QKB1R w KQkq - 2 7

Analyze this position

Related openings

English Opening1.c4 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.Nf3 Nc6 4.g3 d5 · A10–A39White opens with the c-pawn and fights for d5 from the flank — a flexible, positional opening that can become almost anything.Scandinavian Defense1.e4 d5 2.exd5 Qxd5 3.Nc3 Qa5 4.d4 Nf6 · B01Black challenges e4 immediately with ...d5, accepting that the queen must move two or three times in the opening in return for a clean, simple structure.English Opening: Symmetrical Variation1.c4 c5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nc3 Nc6 4.g3 g6 · A30–A39Black mirrors with ...c5 and both sides fianchetto, producing one of the most balanced and strategically deep structures in chess.Queen's Gambit Declined1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bg5 Be7 · D30–D69Black holds d5 with ...e6 and accepts a slightly cramped but extremely solid position — the classical answer to 1.d4 for over a century.English Opening: Reversed Sicilian1.c4 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.Nf3 Nc6 4.g3 Bb4 · A20–A29Black plays ...e5 and the game becomes a Sicilian with reversed colours, where White owns the extra tempo and Black must attack to compensate.English Opening: Four Knights Variation1.c4 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.Nf3 Nc6 4.d4 exd4 · A28–A29Both sides develop their knights after 1.c4 e5, and White plays d4 to challenge Black's centre. The resulting exchanges open lines while Black's ...Bb4 pin tests White's coordination.