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For Black· 13 lines

Scandinavian Defense - Main Line: 3.Nc3 Qa5

Let's learn the Scandinavian Defense! We hit White's e-pawn on move one and steer every game into the same solid, low-theory structure, the kind of position club opponents constantly misplay. Here's how White can react:

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Main Line: 3.Nc3 Qa5: position after 1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Qxd5 3. Nc3 Qa5 4. d4 Nf6 5. Nf3 Bf5 6. Bd2 e6 7. Ne4 Qb6 8. Nxf6+ gxf6 9. Bc3 Nc6 10. Bd3 Bxd3 11. Qxd3 O-O-O
Position after 11... O-O-O

Main line

The chapter's main line, with the comments from the course.

  1. 1. e4 d5

    The Scandinavian Defense forces an immediate pawn trade and gives us a solid structure that resembles what we get in the Caro-Kann Defense.

  2. 2. exd5

    White takes back, and we have two main options: capture with our queen on that pawn or play the gambit style with knight to f6.

  3. 2... Qxd5

    Better than 2...Nf6, as that move hands White a comfortable edge without any real effort on their part.

  4. 3. Nc3!

    The most natural move, but this does obstruct our c-file pawn, preventing White from quickly establishing the ideal d4/c4 center.

  5. 3... Qa5

    The traditional main line, though not as popular since our queen is more exposed here than on d8.

  6. 4. d4

    White builds a classical center and prepares to develop all the pieces harmoniously.

  7. 4... Nf6

    Black's most natural developing move, placing the knight on an ideal central square while maintaining flexibility for the bishop's development.

  8. 5. Nf3

    White develops the knight before committing the bishops, now we need to decide on a square for our dark-squared bishop.

  9. 5... Bf5

    The main try, and it has held up well in practice.

  10. 6. Bd2

    Quiet development that lets us choose our setup.

  11. 6... e6

    Interesting try to skip c6, but White gets good play after Bc4 or the sharp Ne5.

  12. 7. Ne4 Qb6 8. Nxf6+ gxf6 9. Bc3 Nc6 10. Bd3 Bxd3 11. Qxd3 O-O-O

Key lines

The free lines of this chapter, each one trainable move by move.

  1. Main Line

    1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Qxd5 3. Nc3 Qa5 4. d4 Nf6 5. Nf3 Bf5 6. Bd2 e6 7. Ne4 Qb6 8. Nxf6+ gxf6 9. Bc3 Nc6 10. Bd3 Bxd3 11. Qxd3 O-O-O

  2. 4. Nf3

    1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Qxd5 3. Nc3 Qa5 4. Nf3 Nf6 5. Bc4 Bf5 6. d3 c6 7. Bd2 Qc7 8. O-O e6 9. Re1 Nbd7

  3. 4. Nf3

    1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Qxd5 3. Nc3 Qa5 4. Nf3 Nf6 5. Bc4 Bf5 6. O-O e6 7. d3 c6 8. Bd2 Qc7 9. Re1 Nbd7

  4. 4. Nf3

    1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Qxd5 3. Nc3 Qa5 4. Nf3 Nf6 5. Be2 c6 6. O-O Bf5 7. d3 Nbd7 8. Bd2 h6 9. Ne4 Qc7

  5. 4. Nf3

    1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Qxd5 3. Nc3 Qa5 4. Nf3 Nf6 5. d3 e5 6. Bd2 Bd6

  6. 4. Nf3

    1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Qxd5 3. Nc3 Qa5 4. Nf3 Nf6 5. d4 Bf5 6. Bd2 e6 7. Ne4 Qb6 8. Nxf6+ gxf6 9. Bc3 Nc6 10. Bd3 Bxd3 11. Qxd3 O-O-O

  7. 5. Bd2

    1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Qxd5 3. Nc3 Qa5 4. d4 Nf6 5. Bd2 Bg4 6. f3 Bd7 7. Bc4 Qb6 8. Nge2 e6 9. O-O Be7 10. Kh1 O-O

  8. 5. Bd2

    1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Qxd5 3. Nc3 Qa5 4. d4 Nf6 5. Bd2 Bg4 6. Nf3 Qf5 7. Be2 Nc6

  9. 5. Bd2

    1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Qxd5 3. Nc3 Qa5 4. d4 Nf6 5. Bd2 Bg4 6. Be2 Bxe2 7. Qxe2 Nc6 8. Nf3 e6 9. O-O Qf5 10. Nb5 O-O-O

  10. 5. Bd2

    1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Qxd5 3. Nc3 Qa5 4. d4 Nf6 5. Bd2 Bg4 6. Be2 Bxe2 7. Ngxe2 Nc6 8. O-O Qh5

  11. 5. Bc4

    1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Qxd5 3. Nc3 Qa5 4. d4 Nf6 5. Bc4 Bg4 6. f3 Bd7 7. Ne2 c5 8. d5 b5 9. Bd3 c4 10. Be4 b4 11. Nb1 Na6

  12. 6. Bc4

    1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Qxd5 3. Nc3 Qa5 4. d4 Nf6 5. Nf3 Bf5 6. Bc4 e6 7. O-O Nbd7 8. Bd2 c6 9. Re1 Qc7

  13. 6. Bd3

    1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Qxd5 3. Nc3 Qa5 4. d4 Nf6 5. Nf3 Bf5 6. Bd3 e6 7. O-O Bxd3 8. Qxd3 Be7 9. Bd2 O-O

Other chapters

All chapters of the Scandinavian Defense

Learn Main Line: 3.Nc3 Qa5 on the board

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