Understanding the Scandinavian-1

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"Understanding the Scandinavian"  

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Chapter 2.  3…Qa5

There is a reason in retreat to а5. In contrast to the placement on d6 the queen doesn’t hinder the development of the bishop which, as we will see, quite often appears on b4. The queen can work on the 5th rank.

White in his turn tries to cause discomfort, putting the bishop on d2 whence it can threaten to the strongest enemy piece. The most fundamental for Black, to my mind, is the advance с7-с6 which secures place for another queen’s step back on с7 or even d8. 

Please, don’t get a wrong impression that Black just wastes time with these queen movements. When the knight goes out to с3 (Nb1-c3) with tempo, it actually barricades the way to the c-pawn. In the future his leaps (for instance, Nc3-d5) usually lead to knights’ trade which is also not bad for Black. In a word, the strategy from both sides is based on positional nuances and it is rather difficult to give an unequivocal verdict like “White stands better” or “equality”.

Section 1.  Doubled black pawns on kingside 

Firstly, let’s acquaint ourselves with plans of both players in situations when Black has “damaged” pawn structure f7-f6-e6. 

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Game 24.   Alavi, Sayed Javad  (2410) – Kasparov, Sergey (2546)

15 Fajr (Islamic revolution) Ahvaz (4), 02.2007

1.e4 d5 2.exd5 Qxd5 3.Nc3 Qa5 4.d4 c6 5.Nf3 Nf6 6.Bc4 Bf5 7.Bd2

This is one of the negatives of the queen's placement on а5. The bishop lies in the ambush and from now Black has to take into account jumps of the c3-knight. There is no point for him to go to b5 because after Qa5-d8 it is unclear what to do. Moving to е4 is possible but seldom used. The most popular is Nc3-d5. I wouldn’t say it is dangerous but still there will be positional pressure.

(A beautiful Polish player handled the position not in the best way 7.Ne5 e6 8.Bd2 Nbd7 9.Nd5 Qd8 10.Ne3!?

Played creatively, but it doesn’t disturb Black. 10...Be4 (10...Nxe5 11.dxe5 Ne4=) 11.0–0 Bd6 12.N3g4 h5 “Checking the knight’s documents”, asking the soldier to show his intentions. 13.Nxf6+ gxf6!? The move seems topical, as the g-file is opened and this can have an impact on the health of the white king. 14.Nxd7 Kxd7 15.Qe2 Bf5 (15...Bxc2!?) 16.Bd3 Bxd3 17.Qxd3 Qc7 18.h3 Rag8 And later on Black  started pressure on kingside. 0–1 Toma, Katarzyna (2210) – Kasparov, Sergey (2476)/ Wroclaw op 2009)

7...e6 8.Nd5 Qd8 This retreat option is one of the reasons why с7-с6 was made.

9.Nxf6+ gxf6

The most solid reply, Black keeps full control over the 5th rank. Queenside castling is planned and opened g-file come in useful for the rook.

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