Scandinavian Defense: Anderssen Counterattack
1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Qxd5 3. Nc3 Qa5 4. d4 e5
The Scandinavian Defense: Anderssen Counterattack is a chess opening classified as ECO B01, reached after 1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Qxd5 3. Nc3 Qa5 4. d4 e5. It is a line of the Scandinavian Defense. White is to move. 2 named lines continue from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 1,444 times by this move order. White won 54%, 3% were drawn and Black won 43%. The most popular continuation is 5. dxe5 (45% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.85 (Stockfish, depth 37; best line 5. Nf3 exd4 6. Qxd4 Nc6 7. Bb5 Ne7)
- ECO
- B01
- Moves
- 8 plies
- FEN
rnb1kbnr/ppp2ppp/8/q3p3/3P4/2N5/PPP2PPP/R1BQKBNR w KQkq - 0 5- PGN
1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Qxd5 3. Nc3 Qa5 4. d4 e5
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 703 | |
| 1500-1999 | 617 | |
| 2000+ | 124 | |
| All | 1,444 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 5. dxe5 | 643 (45%) | |
| 5. Nf3 Anderssen Counterattack, Goteborg System | 263 (18%) | |
| 5. Bd2 | 178 (12%) | |
| 5. d5 | 172 (12%) | |
| 5. Qe2 | 86 (6%) | |
| 5. Be3 | 29 (2%) | |
| 5. Bc4 | 19 (1%) | |
| 5. Bb5+ | 18 (1%) |
Master games
71 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 51%, draw 11%, Black 38%). The strongest:
- GM Hans Moke Niemann (2728) – IM Shamil Arslanov (2410) 1-0 · Titled Tue 26th May 2026 · 2026-05-26
- GM Etienne Bacrot (2637) – IM Shamil Arslanov (2410) 0-1 · Titled Tue 11th Mar Late · 2025-03-11
- GM Rasmus Svane (2612) – IM Shamil Arslanov (2410) 1-0 · Titled Tue 13th Jan 2026 · 2026-01-13
- GM Ihor Samunenkov (2595) – IM Shamil Arslanov (2410) 1-0 · Titled Tue 19th May 2026 · 2026-05-19
- GM Niclas Huschenbeth (2586) – IM Shamil Arslanov (2410) 1-0 · Titled Tue 5th May 2026 · 2026-05-05
Search all games of the Scandinavian Defense: Anderssen Counterattack and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- Howerts1 (2464) – SHTRAF_BAT (2468) 0-1 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
- jerryfabian2005 (2454) – Karpazov (2464) 1/2-1/2 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 2s
- schach_dudu (2414) – Karpazov (2477) 1-0 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 2s
Comes from
Scandinavian Defense: Main Line 1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Qxd5 3. Nc3 Qa5
Continuations
- Scandinavian Defense: Anderssen Counterattack, Goteborg System B01 · 1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Qxd5 3. Nc3 Qa5 4. d4 e5 5. Nf3
- Scandinavian Defense: Anderssen Counterattack, Orthodox Attack B01 · 1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Qxd5 3. Nc3 Qa5 4. d4 e5 5. dxe5 Nc6 6. Nf3 Bb4 7. Bd2
More Scandinavian Defense lines (all)
- Scandinavian Defense (1. e4 d5) B01
- Scandinavian Defense (1… d5 2. b3) B01
- Scandinavian Defense: Anderssen Counterattack, Collijn Variation 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
- Scandinavian Defense: Kiel Variation 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.