Chess Opening Theory/1. e4/1...d5/2. exd5/2...Qxd5/3. Nc3

White develops with tempo against Black's queen. Black's queen now must find a safe square: ideally one from which she may not be kicked again straight away.

3....Qa5 is the mainline. From a5 the queen cannot be attacked immediately, she can pin the knight should White dare to advance their d pawn, and she can later move to b6 to target the b2 pawn. From a5 she supports e5. This is considered the sharpest variation.

The principle alternatives are 3...Qd8 and 3...Qd6.

3...Qd8 un-develops the queen. She is now very safe but her scope is greatly limited, and Black will presumably at some point have to spend some tempo to bring her out again. It has the reputation for being the safest and least theoretical continuation. Its most vocal advocate has been John Bartholomew.

3...Qd6 was pioneered by Grandmaster Sergei Tiviakov and others. The queen is much more active here than back on d8 but a mite more vulnerable. Black must soon play c6 or a6 to prevent Nb5 to kick the queen.

3...Qe6+!? (and 3...Qe5+!?) to check White's king are common amateur tries, but they do not accomplish much for Black. 4. Be2 and White has developed another piece, and Black's queen is blocking in their e pawn and so will probably have to move again.

One idea behind 3...Qe6+ 4. Be2 is that Black wants to target the weakened g2 pawn. However, to pursue it is folly and White should be happy to give it up: 4...Qg6 5. Nf3 Qxg2?! 6. Rg1 Qh3 and White's has four pieces developed, they're about to play d4, and their rook is well positioned on the half open g file, whereas Black has only developed their queen, who White can kick again with Rg3.

Most other possible third moves blunder the queen, as White either directly controls the squares (b5, c4, d3 by the bishop, e4 and d5 by the knight, f3 and h5 by the queen) or they afford White further tempo. A quick survey of the foil to the remaining moves:

• 3...Qd7?! is difficult to immediately refute, but Black's position looks awkward with their light-squared bishop blocked and the need to be vigilant in case the queen becomes pinned to the king.
• 3...Qd4? and Nf3 scores tempo.
• 3...Qf5? runs into d4 ... Bd3.
• 3...Qg5? allows d4 with a discovered attack
• 3...Qc5? and Qe5+?! will be kicked again after d4 and/or Nf3.
• 3...Qc6?? and Bb5 pins it to the king, winning the queen.

For explanation of theory tables, see theory table and for notation, see algebraic notation..

1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Qxd5 3. Nc3

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Wikipedia has related information at Scandinavian Defence

• Kasparov, Garry, & Keene, Raymond 1989 Batsford chess openings 2. ISBN 0-8050-3409-9.

• Anatoli Karpov - Bent Larsen 1979