Cyrus Lakdawala

The Scandinavian
move by move

www.everymanchess.com
 About the Author

Cyrus Lakdawala is an International Master, a former National Open and American Open
Champion, and a six-time State Champion. He has been teaching chess for over 30 years,
and coaches some of the top junior players in the US.

Also by the Author:

Play the London System
A Ferocious Opening Repertoire
The Slav: Move by Move
1...d6: Move by Move
The Caro-Kann: Move by Move
The Four Knights: Move by Move
Capablanca: Move by Move
The Modern Defence: Move by Move
Kramnik: Move by Move
The Colle: Move by Move
 Contents

About the Author 3

Series Foreword 6
Bibliography 7
Introduction 9

1 The Main Line without 6 Ìe5 20

2 The 7 Ìc4 Variation 79
3 The 7 Íf4 Variation 120
4 Shirov’s Variation: 7 f4 172
5 Fifth Move Alternatives 217
6 The Early ...c6 Move Order 250
7 The 5...g6 Scandinavian 265
8 White Refrains From an Early d4 293
9 White Avoids an Early Ìc3 331
10 Odds and Ends 363

Index of Variations 393

Index of Games 399
 Series Foreword

Move by Move is a series of opening books which uses a question-and-answer format. One
of our main aims of the series is to replicate – as much as possible – lessons between chess
teachers and students.
All the way through, readers will be challenged to answer searching questions, to test
their skills in chess openings and indeed in other key aspects of the game. It’s our firm be-
lief that practising your skills like this is an excellent way to study chess openings, and to
study chess in general.
Many thanks go to all those who have been kind enough to offer inspiration, advice and
assistance in the creation of Move by Move. We’re really excited by this series and hope that
readers will share our enthusiasm.

John Emms,
Everyman Chess

6
 Introduction

My happy association with the Scandinavian began in the mid 1980’s (it comes as quite a
shock to suddenly realize you have been playing an opening since Ronald Reagan’s presi-
dency). I was paired with the black pieces against the monster 2600-rated IM, and friend,
Doug Root, who I trailed in the tournament standings by a half point and rating wise by
over 100 points. I had never beaten him, and my two defences, French and Alekhine’s, felt
woefully inadequate. He opened the game with 1 e4. Then a Cat Stevens song (before he
became Yusuf Islam!) suddenly popped into my head: “I’m looking for a hard headed wom-
an, one that will make me do my best. And when I find my hard headed woman, I know the
rest of my life will be blessed, oh yes, yes it will!”
So based on this intuitive data alone, as if by its own volition, my right hand impulsively
reached out for my d-pawn and to my horror pushed it two squares, and soon my hard
headed woman emerged on d5 (and yes, I realize that by making this confession, you now
regard your writer as slightly unbalanced).
W________W
[rhb1kgn4]
[0p0W0p0p]
[WDWDWDWD]
[DWDpDWDW]
[WDWDPDWD]
[DWDWDWDW]
[P)P)W)P)]
[$NGQIBHR]
W--------W
The only Scandinavian game I was familiar with was Larsen’s masterpiece (a 3...Ëa5
Scandi) against Karpov played in Montreal, 1979. In an unbelievably good stroke of fortune,
Doug chose the same line as Karpov (the single variation I knew), and overextended, much
the same as Karpov did against Larsen. Well, I was hooked. But the question arose: How did
I arrive in the situation where good fortune bubbled over? Was it dumb luck, or was the

9
The Scandinavian: Move by Move

Scandinavian a better opening than people give it credit for? I chose to believe the latter. I
didn’t care that at the time (and even today) many strong players considered the Scandi-
navian borderline sound. In fact, the late GM Rosendo Balinas, after beating down my
Scandi, scolded me: “Your first move was an error!” He warned me that Black’s early queen
excursion walked that precarious tightrope between reason and irrationality. I didn’t be-
lieve him then and I don’t now.

A Violation of all that is Sacred

W________W
[rhbDkgn4]
[0p0W0p0p]
[WDW1WDWD]
[DWDWDWDW]
[WDWDWDWD]
[DWHWDWDW]
[P)P)W)P)]
[$WGQIBHR]
W--------W
With the Scandinavian, we issue a flagrant challenge to long established doctrine. Our
charmed opening mockingly blasphemes against the sacred verities of the most holy of
principles and we must learn to live with a stigma attached. After all, in playing our second
and third moves, ...Ëxd5 and ...Ëd6, Black violates no less than two principles:
1. Don’t bring your queen out early, since your opponent’s pieces or pawns may give
chase, at your loss of time and discomfort.
2. Don’t fall behind in development.
However, normal laws of physics collapse when entering this anomalous pocket of space.
In this universe, rapid development and central control are arbitrarily punished, while egre-
gious violations like bringing out one’s queen early, and moving her over and over again, is
blessed with reward! The Scandinavian is a dark alien technology, which doesn’t function
under any set of mechanical principles with which I am familiar. It’s a bit like the hard-
working government clerk who finishes his work early, and as a consequence must complete
the unfinished work of lazy co-workers. Well, we are the lazy co-workers! The reasons?
First, White has a terrible time opening the position any further, since our Caro-Kann
set-up: ...c6, ...Íf5 (or ...Íg4), and ...e6 renders the structure rather rigid, which in turn de-
flates White’s much publicized development lead.
Secondly, your opponent lacks specific targets, despite an often massive development
lead.

10
 Introduction

Lastly, your opponent often believes you are crushed, when in reality he or she may only
hold only a mild ‘+=’ or even ‘=’ assessment.
From my experience our opening represents an agency unconstrained by normal chess
laws, and we, the faithful, are inexplicably granted amnesty for past, unpunished (and fu-
ture) crimes, in perpetuity. Ironically, it is precisely our flagrant and defiant violations
which plant the seed for the defeat of our law abiding opponent. Our secret? We drizzle
temptation before our opponent’s eyes. It is in his extravagant attempt to bring us to jus-
tice – that very moment is normally when our opponent’s guard finds itself at its lowest
ebb – and it is precisely then that we counter strike, and White finds his rage channelled
into diversionary byways.
Have faith. Our opening is sound. At the time of writing, Black scores just above 46% af-
ter 3...Ëd6 – slightly above average for a black opening. So the stats just don’t bear out the
theory that the Scandinavian is some disreputable byway. The opening is legit and here to
stay. When you take it up, you discover a mysterious woman you simply fail to fathom, yet
still love.

Our Great Hurdle

W________W
[rhbDkgW4]
[0pDW0p0p]
[WDp1WhWD]
[DWDWHWDW]
[WDW)WDWD]
[DWHWDWDW]
[P)PDW)P)]
[$WGQIBDR]
W--------W
In the diagrammed position, we have little to no margin for error. Our defence must be
comp-perfect or we face Old Testament style divine retribution. We cover this line and its
offspring in Chapters Two, Three and Four. It represents no less than an attempt at total
eclipse of the ...Ëd6 lines and constitutes an existential threat to our very survival. So study
these chapters as if your life depends upon it – because it does! If you do study these chap-
ters carefully, you discover that your resources are more than adequate against White’s
coming assault.
Here is an early Scandinavian game which caught my eye. Note how Lasker just couldn’t
seem to get his arms around his dream attack.

11
The Scandinavian: Move by Move

Game 1
E.Lasker-R.Breckenridge
New York (simul) 1894

1 e4 d5 2 exd5 Ëxd5 3 Ìc3 Ëa5

Question: Aren’t we exclusively covering the 3...Ëd6 lines in this book?

Answer: Please keep your voice down or I risk an outraged email from the editor! We are,
but the ...Ëd6 lines didn’t really begin to appear until the 1970’s, so I add this game for a
historical perspective. Even if we don’t cover the ...Ëa5 lines in the book, the middlegame
position reached in this game appears quite similar to many of the structures we will ex-
amine.
4 Ìf3 Íg4
4...Ìf6 and 4...c6 are also played here.
5 Íe2
Probably too meek to get much of an edge. 5 h3 Íh5 6 d4 e6 7 g4 Íg6 8 Ìe5 Ìf6
reaches the critical position of the ...Ëa5/...Íg4 Scandinavian. According to theory, White
stands clearly better, but I disagree and defend Black with religious fervour, as do a few
strong GMs, like Christian Bauer.
5...e6 6 0-0 Ìf6 7 d4 c6
Now we reach positions similar to the ones arising from the 3...Ëd6 lines, which we ex-
amine in detail in this book.
8 Ìe5!?
W________W
[rhWDkgW4]
[0pDWDp0p]
[WDpDphWD]
[1WDWHWDW]
[WDW)WDbD]
[DWHWDWDW]
[P)PDB)P)]
[$WGQDRIW]
W--------W
He allows Black to swap a bad bishop for White’s good bishop.
8...Íxe2 9 Ìxe2

12
 Introduction

9 Ëxe2 is, of course, also playable.

9...Íd6
It’s actually better to post the bishop on e7, but they didn’t know this in 1894.
10 f4!?
Aggressive and in Lasker’s style, but he also weakens his light squares and places pawns
on the same colour as his remaining bishop, two factors which haunt him later in the
game. I can see why Lasker rejected the boring 10 Ìc4 Ëc7 11 Ìxd6+ Ëxd6.
10...Ìbd7 11 Êh1 Îd8 12 Íd2 Ëc7 13 Ëe1 0-0 14 Ëh4
W________W
[WDW4W4kD]
[0p1nDp0p]
[WDpgphWD]
[DWDWHWDW]
[WDW)W)W!]
[DWDWDWDW]
[P)PGNDP)]
[$WDWDRDK]
W--------W
Question: Isn’t White better? He has an entrenched
knight on e5 and looks like he builds an attack as well.

Answer: I actually prefer Black, who controls the central light squares and owns the better
bishop. As for White’s attack, we shall see...
14...Ìe4
The light squares are the commodity to be bartered for and traded.
15 Íe3 Ìdf6 16 Ìd3 Ìd5!
Black’s knights, an infection, begin a slow affliction on the weakened light squares.
17 Îf3
Undaunted by strategic woes, Lasker pushes forward for mate.
17...f5!
Dual purpose:
1. Black anchors his knight on e4.
2. Tossing in ...f5 keeps his king safer since Black begins to challenge White’s kingside
space advantage.
18 Îg1!?
Also possible is 18 Îh3 h6 19 Íg1.

13
The Scandinavian: Move by Move

18...Íe7 19 Ëh3?!
Consistent, but dubious. Lasker isn’t a likely candidate for the apologetic but correct 19
Ëe1.
19...c5!
W________W
[WDW4W4kD]
[0p1WgW0p]
[WDWDpDWD]
[DW0nDpDW]
[WDW)n)WD]
[DWDNGRDQ]
[P)PDNDP)]
[DWDWDW$K]
W--------W
Principle: Counter in the centre when menaced on the wing. I never heard of Brecken-
ridge before digging up this game, but he possessed uncanny strategic and defensive in-
stincts for a person living in his time.
20 Íc1
The bad bishop remains a serious strategic impediment.
20...c4?!
20...Ìdf6! is virtually winning after 21 c3 cxd4 22 cxd4 (White also loses after 22 Ìxd4
Ìg4! threatening ...Íc5) 22...Ìg4! 23 Ìg3 Îf6! 24 Ìxe4 Îh6!, picking up material.
21 Ìe5 c3 22 b3 Ìb4
White’s queenside pawns are en prise. He must generate something on the other wing
to compensate, and quickly.
23 Ìg3 Ìxg3+
Houdini likes 23...Ìd6 24 Ìh5 g6 25 g4, but the position around Black’s king begins to
grow turbulent.
24 Îxg3 Ìd5!
He sees through Lasker’s tricks:
a) 24...Ìxc2?? drops a piece to 25 Îxc3.
b) 24...Ìxa2? 25 Ëh6 Íf6 26 Ía3 when Black must give up an exchange.
25 Îf3
25 Ëh6 leads nowhere after 25...Íf6.
25...Îf6 26 g4 Îh6
Here Lasker’s scheming mind began to weigh the pros and cons of a psycho sac.
27 Ëxh6?

14
 Introduction

W________W
[WDW4WDkD]
[0p1WgW0p]
[WDWDpDW!]
[DWDnHpDW]
[WDW)W)PD]
[DP0WDRDW]
[PDPDWDW)]
[DWGWDW$K]
W--------W
Warfare, by its very nature, offers each side license to inflict savage acts upon the other,
which would be deemed criminal in times of peace. Chaos asserts itself. Out of nowhere,
the queen materializes on h6, as if beamed down by Scotty himself, from the USS Enter-
prise. She plunges into the murky depths, without thought of retreat or mercy, in a final
defiant act of a defiant life. One can never accuse Lasker of an impoverished imagination,
and the shocking effect of this move is the equivalent to President Obama delivering a
State of the Union speech wearing sandals, shorts, a Bob Marley t-shirt and dreadlocked
hair – and his new wardrobe’s effect on the New York Stock Exchange the following day.

Question: I don’t understand. Isn’t this sac, to put it mildly, a bit on

the rash end of the scale? Is it madness or veiled calculation?

Answer: Perhaps a little of both. Clearly the move courts death. The sac unleashes one of
Lasker’s shady yet maddeningly difficult to refute ideas. In a sense, there is no basis for un-
derstanding, since Lasker sometimes deliberately chose “bad” moves to confuse his often
confused adversaries, as he attempts in this instance. His sac is more an article of faith in
his own remarkable calculation abilities, rather than from logic or empiricism. Lasker re-
jected truisms in chess and confounded many an opponent this way. His philosophy: It is
simple to put forth difficult and even unsound obstacles in an opponent’s path; much
more difficult, however, is the actual refutation of the problems by the defence.
Lasker just can’t help himself from such extemporaneous indulgences, especially in a
simul game, when he is in no mood for manoeuvring niceties. Technically, the move is an
error, but if Lasker plays it, maybe it isn’t an error! Presumptions are sometimes misinter-
preted as facts. Now the gates of hell open around Black’s king. Tormented shadows and
spirits, pulsing and vibrating with life, writhe in terrible images which labour to take form
and come to life in the corporeal realm of materiality. Lasker’s idea comes tantalizingly

15
The Scandinavian: Move by Move

close to fulfilment, but in the end, the key simply fails to fit the lock. With hindsight, Lasker
should have played the prosaic 27 Ëg2, but then we would have been deprived of a very
interesting game.
27...gxh6
Capture of the queen is no cause for rejoicing just yet. Black feasts sombrely, realizing
the food consumed may also be poisoned, since ingress into the black king’s inner sanctum
will not be denied to White, who concedes a dear price for the rights. Over the board it isn’t
such an easy matter to navigate Black’s side without capsizing one’s equilibrium.
28 gxf5+ Êf8
28...Êh8?? isn’t much of a consideration, since 29 Ìf7 is mate.
29 Îfg3
Threatening mate in one.
29...Ìf6 30 fxe6 Îxd4 31 Îg7 Êe8 32 Ía3!
W________W
[WDWDkDWD]
[0p1WgW$p]
[WDWDPhW0]
[DWDWHWDW]
[WDW4W)WD]
[GP0WDWDW]
[PDPDWDW)]
[DWDWDW$K]
W--------W
Threat: Îg8+ mating. Lasker cunningly advances in dispersed formation, coming at
Black on all sides.

Question: Did Lasker succeed in whipping up compensation for his sacrifice?

Answer: More or less, but mainly less! He doesn’t get enough. The high priest on a3 appears
terrifyingly magnificent behind the Aztec war mask, yet, somehow, the blandness of his
actual face seeps through.
32...Îd6!
The only move, but a good one. In such positions, stasis is an illusion. Either you gain
ground or lose it.
33 f5 b5!
Idea: ...b4 and ...Ëb7+. Black exudes a confidence not generally seen in a mere master

16
 Introduction

who faces down a newly crowned world champion, even if in a simul game.
34 Íxd6
White is forced to release the tension.
34...Ëxd6 35 Ìf7 Ëd5+
At long last, Black seizes the initiative.
36 Î7g2
W________W
[WDWDkDWD]
[0WDWgNDp]
[WDWDPhW0]
[DpDqDPDW]
[WDWDWDWD]
[DP0WDWDW]
[PDPDWDR)]
[DWDWDW$K]
W--------W
“Victory has a hundred fathers, but defeat is an orphan,” lamented John F Kennedy, af-
ter the Bay of Pigs fiasco. We sense a loss of control from White. Have you ever been hand-
ed a shocking revelation, and then paused and realized you subconsciously knew it all
along? Well, we all knew White’s attack was waning. The once great undertaking continues
its dreary decline to mediocrity and the proximate success of White’s dreams recede with
each move. Lasker’s gamble failed and White’s success seems contingent upon Black’s level
of confusion, which thus far has been non-existent.

Exercise (combination alert): Find a trick to win more material.

Answer: Double attack. Black threatens both ...Ìf2 mate and also ...Ìe3, winning an ex-
change.
36...Ìg4!
Houdini also likes 36...Íc5!.
37 h3 Ìe3 38 Êh2 Ìxg2 39 Îxg2 Íd6+
Lasker’s truculent resistance arrives near its end.
40 Ìxd6+ Ëxd6+ 41 Êh1 Ëd1+ 42 Êh2 Ëf1 43 Îg8+ Êe7 44 Îg7+ Êd6 45 e7 Êd7 46 Îf7
a5
46...Êe8 47 Îg7 Ëxf5 is the simplest path.
47 f6 Ëf4+ 48 Êg2 Ëe4+ 49 Êf1 Ëf4+ 0-1

17
The Scandinavian: Move by Move

W________W
[WDWDWDWD]
[DWDk)RDp]
[WDWDW)W0]
[0pDWDWDW]
[WDWDW1WD]
[DP0WDWDP]
[PDPDWDWD]
[DWDWDKDW]
W--------W
A panorama of White’s lonely kingside tells the story without words. His king throws
down his sword and kneels before the hated black queen, who achieves unchallenged as-
cendancy. He laments the rashness of his beloved queen’s earlier self-sacrifice. Sometimes
even the greats endure attacking Waterloos. Lasker accepts the aftermath of the misad-
venture with good grace and resigns, seeing Black’s position laden with bounty. The moral
of this game: Sometimes crass consumerism and the accruing of wealth really is the way to
inner peace and happiness!

Question: Those White passers are deep. How does Black make progress?

Answer: Let’s turn this into an exercise:

Exercise (combination alert): Come up with a clear path to Black’s victory.

Answer: The cockroach on f4 peers through the crack in the wall and spies a crumb on the
open floor on f7. All that is required is to take it. The vengeful queen lords it over White by
weaving her way to the rook: 50 Êg2 (the meek king has the good sense to obey the
queen’s demands) 50...Ëe4+ 51 Êf1 (the social pressure on the ostracized king grows out
of control; he flees, not from danger, but from what others think of him, and replies, but to
no one but the taunting voices in his head) 51...Ëf5+! 52 Êe2 (52 Êg1 Ëg6+ is the same)
52...Ëe6+.
Summary: The Scandinavian often resembles a Caro-Kann-like defensive wall, which time
and time again frustrates attackers.

Many thanks as always to editors, GM John Emms and IM Richard Palliser, to Nancy for

18
 Introduction

proofreading, and Tim for comp support.

May your opponents rub their hands with unjustified glee upon seeing you meet 1 e4
with 1...d5!.

Cyrus Lakdawala,
San Diego,
May 2013

19