In this post, we will look at some amusing games I’ve played in the Scandinavian Defense. The vast majority of these were on ICC in either the three or 5-minute pools. These games don’t require much analysis. They should be a nice airy respite from the heavily analyzed mystery post to come (you know, the one that’s taken me almost a month to write). I hope you people enjoy these games and find some humor in them in the same way that I did. I consider miniatures to be games ending in fewer than 25 moves; some of these games are also “Micros” which are games under 10 moves. I’ve provided some light analysis but the main point here is to show how not to play in the Scandinavian, not do some complex survey on the opening.
I’ve broken the games down into various sections for easy perusing. The first section is what happens when White tries to keep the pawn via the Scandinavian Gambit Accepted. This arises from the move order: 1.e4 d5 2.exd5 Nf6 3.c4 c6 4.dxc6!?. The next section is miniatures from the Alekhine/Scandinavian/Exchange variation, which as the name suggests is a transposition from the Alekhine’s defense that occurs frequently in the Scandinavian. This arises from the move order: 1.e4 d5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.exd5 Nxd5. The final section is comprised of games from the Scandinavian/Portuguese variation. This arises from the move order: 1.e4 d5 2.exd5 Nf6 3. d4 Bg4!?.
Scandinavian Gambit Accepted
This next one is probably one of my favorites and is one of the more recent games on this list.
This next game is from the same person as above and it plays on a similar theme, I’ve made this one a puzzle for you my dear reader to solve.
This next one is particularly amusing because of the Knight Mate at the end.
About 6 months later, this poor fellow met me again. Can you believe this was a 15-minute game? I always enjoy a good pawn mate.
Just because you trade queens doesn’t mean that your opponent’s initiative magically ends. Here black quickly equalizes and mates white with the minor pieces in the middle of the board.
Scandinavian/Alekhine:
These games tend to enter the endgame where Black is at least equal. I believe that Black has an easy game in most of these lines and is not usually in any real danger.
Scandinavian/Portuguese:
This is an interesting line that I believe is somewhat unsound (which is the reason that I stopped essaying it). With “normal” moves, White gets a decent game where Black has little to no counter play. I’ll allow the reader to do some homework to find the “refutation” but be aware that it’s unpleasant for Black. Black usually has a good game when White tries to refute the line early on (via f3).
This next one is a brutal way to finish the game and is a nice example for why you shouldn’t take such pawns in the opening.
I hope you’ve enjoyed these miniatures from my collection. If you have any other, interesting games in the Scandinavian please post them below.
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