Scandinavian Defense
1.e4 d5 2.exd5 Qxd5 3.Nc3 Qa5 · B01
Starting positionWhite to move
0 / 12
The queen exchange costs development time
- 1.
- 2.
- 3.
- 4.
- 5.
- 6.
The idea
Black 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.
Main line: 1.e4 d5 2.exd5 Qxd5 3.Nc3 Qa5 4.d4 Nf6 5.Nf3 c6 6.Bc4 Bf5
What White wants
- Gain time on the queen with Nc3, d4 and Nf3
- Build a full centre and develop with tempo
- Attack before Black finishes the slow queen retreat and development
What Black wants
- Retreat the queen to a5 or d6 and develop quickly
- Play ...c6 and ...Bf5 or ...Bg4 and challenge the centre
- Reach a solid position and use the extra space on the queenside
Key idea
Understand this and the moves stop needing to be memorised.
The queen exchange costs development time
...Qxd5 restores material, but Nc3 attacks the queen while developing a knight. Black spends a second queen move retreating, then aims for ...c6, ...Bf5 and ...e6. White should turn that head start into active development, not an endless chase of the queen.
Common mistake
Chasing the queen with moves that do not improve the pieces. The retreat to d8 in the example is playable; White should use d4, Nf3 and castling to gain useful activity rather than assume another queen attack automatically wins.
Mistake example: e6.
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.
rn2kb1r/pp2pppp/2p2n2/q4b2/2BP4/2N2N2/PPP2PPP/R1BQK2R w KQkq - 2 7
Analyze this positionVariations
1 line branching from here.
Traps in this opening
Moves in this opening that look natural and lose.
All opening traps