I played this a lot when I was about six, just because I liked having my queen out before my opponent in the usual Exchange Variation...
then I left it becaquse it was cooler to play more popular openings, the ladies loved it when I'd win with the King's gambit...
anyway, that'll all be in my autobiography later...
this thread is about the Scandinavian Defence:
1. e4 d5
and here, most people take, alternative being the passive 2. d3 and 2. Nc3?!
here, I want to talk about
2. exd5
black's two main options are:
a.) 2. ... Qxd5
b.) 2. ... Nf6
after the one I played with as a kid, 2. ... Qxd5, Nc3 kicks the queen over to a5 with good play for both sides, but Nf6 is just better, because now if Nc3, the exchange leaves the queen in the centre unopposed, so we'll look at this one.
2. ... Nf6
3. Nc3
and now we've reached the crucial fork:
does black go with the above suggestion?
3. ... Nxd5
4. Nxd5 Qxd5
or does he want to gambit off a pawn for a potential attack with:
3. ... c6
4. dxc6 Nxc6
a couple of years ago, I brought this line up at chess club. a player on this site, abejnood, goes to my school, and he said that 5. Bc4 was the refutal. and it is this that I am particularly interested in.
3. ... c6
4. dxc6 Nxc6
5. Bc4
and at this time, during chess club, we analyzed two responses for black to try to suggest that his sacrafice was sound.
5. ... e6
5. ... Bf5
the debate went on for the entire hour, and we never reached a final answer. by the next meeting, we had forgotten the Scandinavian, and moved on. now, I want to bring it up, since I just finished a game of blitz (which I drew) against a player who said he liked the opening. I sat here making this thread trying to invent a refutation to the Scandinavian, but couldn't.
and it is here that my analytical skills fail me...
is black's sacrafice sound? Can white play for advantage vs. Scandinavian?