Scandinavian Defense (1… d5 2. b3)
1. e4 d5 2. b3
The Scandinavian Defense is a chess opening classified as ECO B01, reached after 1. e4 d5 2. b3. Black is to move.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 318 times by this move order. White won 47%, 3% were drawn and Black won 50%. The most popular continuation is 2… dxe4 (78% of games).
Engine evaluation: −0.81 (Stockfish, depth 55; best line 2… dxe4 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. f3 exf3 5. Nxf3)
- ECO
- B01
- Moves
- 3 plies
- FEN
rnbqkbnr/ppp1pppp/8/3p4/4P3/1P6/P1PP1PPP/RNBQKBNR b KQkq - 0 2- PGN
1. e4 d5 2. b3
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 162 | |
| 1500-1999 | 137 | |
| 2000+ | 19 | |
| All | 318 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 2… dxe4 | 248 (78%) | |
| 2… d4 | 29 (9%) | |
| 2… e5 | 11 (3%) | |
| 2… Nf6 | 8 (3%) | |
| 2… e6 | 6 (2%) | |
| 2… c5 | 5 (2%) | |
| 2… Nc6 | 3 (1%) | |
| 2… g6 | 2 (1%) |
Master games
2 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 0%, draw 50%, Black 50%). The strongest:
- GM Maxim Lugovskoy (2466) – FM Debaraj Chatterjee (2216) 1/2-1/2 · TCh-BAN Premier 2019 · 2019-12-07
- Dan Nandrean (2173) – Roberto Villa Izquierdo (1962) 0-1 · Euro Online U2300 Day 1 · 2020-05-25
Search all games of the Scandinavian Defense and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- Orlandonieto (2269) – mentejugadora (2265) 1-0 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
- ricgem (2128) – MRCHESS1983 (2261) 1-0 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
- ricgem (2132) – MRCHESS1983 (2257) 1-0 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Scandinavian Defense (1. e4 d5) 1. e4 d5
More Scandinavian Defense lines (all)
- Scandinavian Defense: Anderssen Counterattack B01
- Scandinavian Defense: Anderssen Counterattack, Collijn Variation B01
- Scandinavian Defense: Anderssen Counterattack, Goteborg System B01
- Scandinavian Defense: Anderssen Counterattack, Orthodox Attack B01
- Scandinavian Defense: Blackburne Gambit B01
- Scandinavian Defense: Blackburne-Kloosterboer Gambit B01
- Scandinavian Defense: Boehnke Gambit B01
- Scandinavian Defense: Bronstein Variation B01
- Scandinavian Defense: Classical Variation B01
- Scandinavian Defense: Grünfeld Variation B01
- Scandinavian Defense: Gubinsky-Melts Defense B01
- Scandinavian Defense: Icelandic-Palme Gambit B01
Opening names and moves from the Lichess openings dataset; statistics from the Lichess open database, 2026-09 (CC0), sample of 12.6 million games, bots excluded; evaluations from Lichess cloud analysis (all CC0). Master games from The Week in Chess #920–#1664 by Mark Crowther, used with permission.