Scandinavian Defense

The Scandinavian Defense (or Center Counter Defense, or Center Counter Game) is a chess opening characterized by the moves:

This opening is classified under code B01 in the Encyclopaedia of Chess Openings. The Scandinavian Defense, described in the poem Scachs d'amor, is the oldest opening by Black recorded in modern chess. Considered to be the most directly challenging move available to Black after 1.e4, the general goal of the defense is to prevent White from controlling the center of the board with pawns, effectively forcing an open game, while allowing Black to build a strong pawn structure.

The Scandinavian Defense is one of the oldest recorded openings, first recorded as a fictional game between Francesc de Castellví and Narcís Vinyoles in Valencia around 1475 in what may be the first recorded game of modern chess. It was also listed in the 1497 Lucena's book "Repetition of Love and the Art of Playing Chess with 150 Games".

Analysis by Scandinavian masters in the late 19th century showed it is playable for Black; Ludvig Collijn played the opening with success. Although the Scandinavian Defense has never enjoyed widespread popularity among top-flight players, Joseph Henry Blackburne and Jacques Mieses often played it, and greatly developed its theory in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It was an occasional choice in this era for top players including Siegbert Tarrasch, Rudolph Spielmann, and Savielly Tartakower. Alexander Alekhine used it to draw against World Champion Emanuel Lasker at St. Petersburg 1914, and future World Champion José Raúl Capablanca won twice with it at New York 1915.

A regular user from the 1950s onwards was Yugoslav International Master (IM) Nikola Karaklajić, but a lengthy period of non-support by top players ended by the 1960s, when former world championship finalist David Bronstein and women's world champion Nona Gaprindashvili played it occasionally. Danish grandmaster (GM) Bent Larsen, a four-time world championship candidate, played it occasionally from the 1960s onwards; he defeated World Champion Anatoly Karpov with it at Montreal 1979, spurring a rise in popularity. The popular name also began to switch from "Center Counter Defense" to "Scandinavian Defense" around this time. Danish GM Curt Hansen is also considered an expert in the opening. Australian GM Ian Rogers has adopted it frequently starting in the 1980s. In 1995, the Scandinavian Defense made its first appearance in a world chess championship match, in the 14th game of the PCA final at New York City. Viswanathan Anand as Black obtained an excellent position using the opening against Garry Kasparov, although Kasparov won the game.

During the sixth round of the 2014 Chess Olympiad at Tromsø, Magnus Carlsen chose the Scandinavian against Fabiano Caruana, and won; Carlsen used the opening again to draw with Caruana at the 2016 Chess Olympiad at Baku. Carlsen used the opening as Black in a blitz game to defeat Viswanathan Anand at the 2019 Grand Chess Tour stop in Kolkata.

White normally continues 2.exd5 where Black has two major continuations: 2...Qxd5 and 2...Nf6 (the Modern Scandinavian). The rare gambit 2...c6 (the Blackburne–Kloosterboer Gambit) was played successfully by Joseph Blackburne on at least one occasion, but after 3.dxc6 is thought to be unsound and is almost never seen in master-level play.

The main continuation after 2.exd5 is to immediately recapture the d5-pawn with the queen, developing it early and controlling a sizable quantity of squares on the board, often leading to sharp games.