Scandinavian Variation

The Scandinavian Variation is Black's independent reply to 2. Nc3 in the Alekhine Defense. The alternatives 2...e5 and 2...d6 usually transpose to the Vienna Game or the Pirc Defense. With 2...d5 the pawn becomes a second attacker of e4, which only the c3-knight defends, so White must settle the central tension at once: exchange on d5, advance to e5, or give up the pawn.

After 3. exd5 Nxd5 the play is open and often drawish. The simplifying 4. Nxd5 Qxd5 leaves Black's queen actively centralized, development comes easily, and Black is at least equal. With 4. Bc4 White keeps more pieces on, and both 4...Nb6 and 4...Nxc3 are regarded as roughly level. The steadier 4...e6 hems in the light-squared bishop. The fianchetto 4. g3 has also been tried. Instead of recapturing, Black can play 3...c6, the Geschev Gambit, offering a pawn for development.

The advance 3. e5 gives a more combative game. Black's main choices are 3...Nfd7, 3...d4, 3...Ne4 and even 3...Ng8. After 3...Nfd7 4. d4 e6 the game reaches the Steinitz Variation of the French Defense. Black may also postpone ...e6 until the queen's bishop is developed, and 4. e6 is a sharp try for White. The forcing 3...d4 can lead to 4. exf6 dxc3 5. fxg7 cxd2+, after which White recaptures and castles quickly, while 4. Nce2 Ng4 is the other option.

On Lichess the most frequent continuation is 3. d4, a pawn sacrifice. After 3...dxe4 it becomes the Blackmar-Diemer Gambit, which is doubtful in theory but full of traps and serviceable in club play and fast time controls. The modest 3. d3, 3. f3 and 3. Bd3 promise White no more than equality. The Myers Gambit, 3. d3 dxe4 4. Bg5, is one of these lines.

The variation's reputation has been dented by Jonny Hector, who regularly answers the Alekhine with 2. Nc3 and has scored well against 2...d5. His ideas are credited with giving White a theoretical edge, and authors of Alekhine repertoire books, among them Davies, Cox and Taylor, have advised 2...e5 instead. The engine assessment of the starting position is close to balanced, and in online games Black's results are marginally better than White's.