- This article uses algebraic notation to describe chess moves.
| Scandinavian Defense | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Moves | 1.e4 d5 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ECO | B01 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Origin | the fictional Castellvi - Vinyoles, Valencia 1475 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Named after | Scandinavia | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Parent | King's Pawn Game | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Synonym(s) | Center Counter Defense | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Chessgames.com opening explorer | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The Center Counter Defense or Scandinavian Defense is a chess opening characterized by the moves
- 1.e4 d5
The Center Counter Defense is one of the oldest recorded openings, first recorded as being played between Francesco di Castellvi and Narciso Vinyoles in Valencia in 1475, and being mentioned by Lucena in 1497. It is one of the oldest asymmetric defenses to 1.e4, along with the French Defense. Analysis by Scandinavian masters including Collijn showed it is playable for Black. Although the Center Counter Defense has never enjoyed widespread popularity among top-flight chess players, Jacques Mieses frequently played it and greatly developed its theory around the turn of the 20th century. Bent Larsen played it from time to time, and defeated World Champion Anatoly Karpov with it at Montreal 1979, spurring a rise in popularity. Starting in the 1960s, David Bronstein and Nona Gaprindashvili would play it occasionally, and Ian Rogers has adopted it frequently starting in the 1980s. In 1995, the Center Counter Defense made a rare appearance in a World Chess Championship match. Viswanathan Anand as Black obtained an excellent position using the opening against Garry Kasparov, although Kasparov won the game. It is classified under the B01 code in the Encyclopaedia of Chess Openings.
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Main variations
White normally continues 2.exd5 when Black has two major continuations: 2...Qxd5 and 2...Nf6 (Marshall Gambit). After 2...Qxd5 White normally attacks the queen with gain of tempo with 3.Nc3, when 3...Qa5 is considered the main line. Less common alternatives include the retreat 3...Qd8, 3...Qe5+!? (the "Patzer Variation", which has recently attracted some interest), and 3...Qd6, the Bronstein Variation (also referred to as the Pytel Variation, among other names). Once considered a rare sideline, the Bronstein Variation became quite popular in the late 1990s and early 2000s, and has been played on numerous occasions by Grandmasters Sergei Tiviakov and Bojan Kurajica, among others. One other possibility is the rare 3...Qe6+, one idea being that after the natural developing move 4.Be2 (covering the check), Black plays 4...Qg6 attacking the g2 pawn. Generally regarded as highly dubious, this line was played by David Letterman as Black in a televised game against Garry Kasparov[1], which Letterman lost in 23 moves. Returning to the main line, a typical continuation after 2...Qxd5 3.Nc3 Qa5 might be 4.d4 Nf6 5.Nf3 Bg4 (or 5...Bf5) 6.h3 Bh5 7.g4 Bg6 8.Ne5, after which White often fianchettos his bishop on g2. In general, many lines in the 3...Qa5 variation lead to positions reminiscent of the Caro-Kann Defense. With 2...Nf6 (introduced by Frank Marshall), Black delays recapturing the pawn for another move, believing that capturing with the knight rather than the queen will avoid the loss of time inherent in developing the queen so early. This line is also more circumspect, with more options for both players. White may defend the pawn with 3.c4; now 3...e6 is the relatively little-explored Icelandic Gambit, in which Black gives up a pawn for quick development. 3...c6 is more common; if now 4.dxc6, then Black has sufficient compensation for the pawn after 4...Nxc6, with a lead in development and control of the d4-square. White instead often plays 4.d4, which transposes to the Panov-Botvinnik Attack of the Caro-Kann Defense after 4...cxd5. Also important is 3.Bb5+, which can lead to very tricky play after, for example, 3...Bd7 4.Bc4 Bg4 (4...b5!? is also an option) 5.f3 Bf5 6.Nc3 Nbd7 7.Qe2 Nb6 8.Bb3 Qd7 9.d6!. In these variations Black generally can't count on regaining the pawn, but can usually get compensation. The rarer 3...Nbd7 is gathering more attention recently. Normally after 2...Nf6, however, White does not defend the pawn, but instead plays 3.d4 Nxd5 and then either 4.Nf3, developing normally, or 4.c4, taking a larger piece of the center and attacking the knight. The resulting positions are frequently similar to the main lines of the Alekhine Defense, 1.e4 Nf6. Black can also try 3.d4 Bg4!?, the Portuguese or Jadoul Variation, with play similar to the Icelandic Gambit. Another sideline is the Kiel Variation, reached after 2 ... Nf6 3. d4 Nxd5 4. c4 Nb4!? Black sets a trap, hoping for 5. Qa4+? N8c6 6. d5 b5!, with a good game. However, 5. a3 (instead of 5. Qa4) gives White a large advantage. Less effective for White is 3.Nc3 Nxd5, which transposes into an Alekhine Defense line that's generally considered equal for Black. White may avoid all the Center Counter theory by playing 2.d4, transposing into the Blackmar-Diemer Gambit. If instead 2.e5 is played, Black can transpose into a French Defense with 2...e6. More ambitious, however, is 2...c5 or 2...Bf5; either move leads to play similar to an Advance Variation of the Caro-Kann, but with an extra tempo for Black, who can play ...c7-c5 in a single move. 2.Nc3 transposes into the Dunst Opening after 2...d4 or 2...dxe4, while 2.d3 is extremely rare. In general, none of these sidelines are believed to offer White more than equality, and the overwhelming majority of masters opt for 2.exd5 when facing the Scandinavian [2]. The Scandinavian is thus arguably Black's most "forcing" defense to 1.e4, restricting White to a relatively small number of options. (Compare the Sicilian Defense, in which White has at least five major alternatives to the main line 2.Nf3.) This has helped to make the Scandinavian fairly popular among club-level players, though defenses like the Sicilian are far more common at the grandmaster level.
Depiction in cinema
The Center Counter Defense is Ron Weasley's opening move in the 2001 film of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. In the scene in question, Ron (along with Harry Potter and Hermione Granger) have to play a chess game on a giant chessboard with giant chess pieces (it is one of a series of tests that one must pass in order to get to the Philosopher's Stone). Ron uses this defense to verify that the game they are playing is, in fact, exactly like Wizard's Chess (in which chess pieces are enchanted and can smash each other). The chess positions used in the scene were created by International Master Jeremy Silman, though it is unclear if Silman was responsible for the choice of opening.[3]
References
External links
