Newbies shouldnt worry about theoritical correctness unless there is a clear refutation...
If you want to refute 3.Nc3 you should probably try Qe5+ and Bg4

AJZ wrote on 10/27/16 at 18:29:43:


He thinks 3...Qd8 is the best answer because Black is under serious theoretical pressure after the more popular alternatives 3...Qa5 and 3...Qd6, having said that, Shaw tried 3...Qd8 against Nakamura at the recently concluded Olympiad and was crushed, it was not the fault of the opening though, as he would have been crushed regardless of the opening he chose.

AJZ wrote on 10/27/16 at 13:46:43:

As a Scandi-newbie I use this book (and therefore 3...Qd8) as my repertoire after 3.Nc3 and later on will probably add Qa5 and/or Qd6 to it. I liked his personal touch. But as a newbie (and a 1900-player) I don't really have an opinion about the theoretical status and correctness of his assessments and analyses.

RdC wrote on 07/15/16 at 11:16:26:

RdC wrote on 07/15/16 at 11:16:26:

RdC wrote on 07/15/16 at 11:16:26:


While 3...Qd8 may still be playable, it is clear to me that this does no longer refer to the line below since my analysis show that neither 15...Qxd4 nor 15...Bxc2 can save Black.

[Event "?"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "?"]
[Round "?"]
[White "?"]
[Black "?"]
[Result "*"]

1.e4 d5 2.exd5 Qxd5 3.Nc3 Qd8 4.d4 Nf6 5.Nf3 c6 6.Bc4 Bf5 7.Ne5 e6 8.g4 Bg6 9.h4

GMTonyKosten wrote on 07/14/16 at 23:32:32:


Engines seem to agree that 15. .. Qxa1 is losing, but are willing to advocate 15. .. Qxd4 and 15. .. Bxc2 without consensus. It's a type of position perhaps best avoided in practice where the assessment varies with the search depth and the engine used.

What to make of it? As Black if you play .. Qd8, you might be hacked off the board. Alternatively you might provoke White into over extending if he tries to demolish the opening.

applechess wrote on 07/13/16 at 20:51:25:


Certainly, I could say on his behalf that analysis engines were much weaker back in 2003, but, on the other hand, the refutation was already played back in 2001 ...

Glenn Snow wrote on 07/30/06 at 00:45:30:


The analysis by Andrew Martin may be wrong. Black loses after

[Event "?"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "?"]
[Round "?"]
[White "?"]
[Black "?"]
[Result "*"]

1.e4 d5 2.exd5 Qxd5 3.Nc3 Qd8 4.d4 Nf6 5.Nf3 c6 6.Bc4 Bf5 7.Ne5 e6 8.g4 Bg6 9.h4 Bb4 10.f3 Nd5 11.Bxd5 cxd5 12.Qe2 Bxc3+ 13.bxc3 Qa5 14.Kf2 Qxc3 15.h5 *

but A. Martin wrote (after 13...Qa5) "Black obtains sufficient and in some cases very strong counterplay." This is not true as White is busted after 14.Kf2!!

Hello everybody,

it´s a mystery to me that a class player like Kogan recommends Qd8 in combination with Bf5.
You don´t have the flexibilty of the Qd6-variation; you don´t even have the pin of the Nc3 as in the Qa5-variation (whatever that counts ?!) - the only thing you get is loosing time with the queen-manoever to go "home" in the end and as a "plus" you play the bishop outside to allow white to hunt it and develop thereby the white forces.
One must always be careful to run something down, which is recommended by a grandmaster. But in this case that´s
complete madness to me. A ready made recipe not to reach move twenty.

In my view the only possibility to play the Qd8-scandinavian is in combination with g6, leaving the light-squared bishop at least for a while at home .
Either until one can pin a knight on f3 or neutralize white´s light squared bishop via b6/Ba6.

Should white castle queenside black can play a manoever with c6, Be6; Qa5 and Nd5
should white castle kingside black can play c6/b6/Ba6 to reduce white´s attacking potential
and should white adopt a policy of wait and see, may be black can take time to play a Nh6-Nf5, leaving out c7-c6 to keep the possibility to play Nc6 in order to attack white´s d4-pawn.

What black in my view also always should consider is to play a fast Nf6-d5 to exchange whites knight on c3 to reduce white´s control over e4 and d5; and in case white has castled long to remove a defender of the white king.

Anyone interested in this line should check the games of Chelushkina Irina.

Greetings

Gilmour