Scandinavian Defense With 3. Nf3 (avoiding the main lines)

The Nf3 Scandinavian is a very underrated variation. It almost always results in exciting attacking games and avoids the main line theory which makes it more than playable!

The move Nf3 makes a lot of sense when you think about it. Ok, it doesn’t give white an immediate tempo on the queen, but the queen is definitely going to have to move away from d5 anyway. By not playing Nc3, white avoids the main line theory, and all the issues which occur after the move.

In normal Scandinavian variations, the c3 knight is often a liability more than a strength for white. It blocks the c pawn, thus weakening the critical d4 point. White has chased the queen away, but will have a hard time creating a solid setup against black’s Caro-Kann structure with pawns on e6 and c6.

With Nf3, none of these issues exist. There are others. By deviating from theory, white gives black a chance to change his game plan and to go from a solid, positional setup, to an exciting, attacking, opposite side castling position. That makes the opening great for the aggressive black player. Which most Scandinavian players are not! Despite the common misconception of an aggressive opening, it is actually mellow and maneuvering. That means that Nf3 changes the nature of the position.

And that is only true if black knows what he is doing. The only correct plan for black is a quick 0-0-0, and putting pressure on the d4 weakness as soon as possible. After the first few moves, black should have already achieved that. Anything else gives white an opening edge. If black tries to create the normal Scandinavian setup, white will have a greatly improves position because of the fact that the knight hadn’t been developed to c3 yet.

Even in the main line of the Nf3 Scandinavian, when black plays perfectly, white is more than ok! The only real downside is that white is most commonly going to have to give up his d4 pawn for initiative. But he has more than enough compensation. All of white’s pieces are active, he is ahead on development, and he has a ready made queenside attack. Black, on the other hand, is a pawn up. And that’s it. Black is yet to develop his kingside, and is far away from anything resembling an attack.

If things slow down, and white reduces the pressure, than, of course, back will have a pawn up winning endgame, but your job is to not let that happen!

It’s an aggressive opening, where tempi matter a lot, and whoever is tactically stronger wins!

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