Scandinavian Defense Revisited
The fundamental purpose of Black’s aggressive and provocative move with the d-pawn
is to create immediate central tension and to exploit the latent power of the
queen on her starting square. Remember Lasker’s observation: "Black’s idea is to
make use of the great fighting power of the queen in the opening"
Black’s audacious pawn move effectively compels White to lose a tempo by capturing
the pawn, creating an imbalance in the center. Black’s strategy seeks the dissolution
of the center, as the immediate asymmetry reduces the significance of
So, is the Scandinavian, in essence, a ‘refutation’ of 1 e4, as
Black has already activated his queen far ahead of his opponent, while weakening
White’s kingside pawn structure? Isn’t White essentially punished for aiming for
early kingside development with his first move?
Structurally, Black has achieved an ideal exchange, and the core of the Scandinavian
lies in the control of the d5-square. Black must, under no circumstances, allow
White to support a pawn thrust with d4-d5, as this typically means White has effectively
countered Black’s pawn structure both technically and psychologically.