The Scandinavian Defence, previously thought to be a rather primitive and sub-standard response to 1 e4, has now emerged from the doldrums and been employed with success by some of the world's strongest Grandmasters, including Bent Larsen, Curt Hansen, Ian Rogers, Alexei Shirov and Vishy Anand.

The traditional form of the opening is 1 e4 d5 2 exd5 Qxd5 3 Nc3 Qa5, with a subsequent deployment of Black's queen's bishop at f5 or g4, and indeed the current theoretical status of this line remains good. However, in recent years, many alter­native schemes have been tried. There has, for example, been a marked increase in the popularity of 3...Qd6!?, in conjunc­tion with a swift ...a6 and ...b5, or ...Bg4, ....Nc6 and ...0-0-0, and sometimes even a radically different middlegame from the stonewalling so frequently associated with the older type of Scandinavian middlegames. Recent play also suggests that 3...Qe5, cheekily dubbed The Patzer Variation', might also not be so naive.

Equally important are the latest lines arising from 1 e4 d5 2 exd5 Nf6, including the dangerous Icelandic Gambit and the aggressive Portuguese Variation, which is currently at the cutting edge of chess theory.

List of Content

005 Introduction

007 Chapter 1: 1 e4 d5 2 exd5 Qxd5 3 d4 e5

009 Chapter 2: The Main Line 1 e4 d5 2 exd5 Qxd5 3 Nc3 Qa5

030 Chapter 3: 1 e4 d5 2 exd5 Qxd5 3 Qc3 Qd8

038 Chapter 4: 1 e4 d5 2 exd5 Dxd5 3 Nc3 Qd6

089 Chapter 5: The Patzer Variation 1 e4 d5 2 exd5 Qxd5 3 Nc3 Qe5+

100 Chapter 6: The Modern Scandinavian 1 e4 d5 2 exd5 Nf6

102 Chapter 7: 1 e4 d5 2 exd5 Nf6 3 Bb5+

111 Chapter 8: Main Lines 1 e4 d5 2 exd5 Nf6 3 d4 Nxd5

127 Chapter 9: The Scandinavian Gambit 1 e4 d5 2 exd5 Nf6 3 c4 c6

131 Chapter 10: The Icelandic Gambit 1 e4 d5 2 exd5 Nf6 3 c4 e6?!

146 Chapter 11: The Portuguese Variation 1 e4 d5 2 exd5 Nf6 3 d4 Bg4!?

184 Chapter 12: In Conclusion

190 Index of Variations