Scandinavian Defense: Bronstein Variation

1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Qxd5 3. Nc3 Qd6 4. d4 Nf6 5. Nf3 a6

The Scandinavian Defense: Bronstein Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO B01, reached after 1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Qxd5 3. Nc3 Qd6 4. d4 Nf6 5. Nf3 a6. It is a line of the Scandinavian Defense. White is to move.

In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 331 times by this move order. White won 40%, 9% were drawn and Black won 51%. The most popular continuation is 6. Bc4 (23% of games).

Engine evaluation: +1.07 (Stockfish, depth 58; best line 6. g3 Nc6 7. Bf4 Qd8 8. Bg2 e6)

ECO: B01
Moves: 10 plies
FEN: rnb1kb1r/1pp1pppp/p2q1n2/8/3P4/2N2N2/PPP2PPP/R1BQKB1R w KQkq - 0 6
PGN: 1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Qxd5 3. Nc3 Qd6 4. d4 Nf6 5. Nf3 a6

Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess

Results by rating

Average rating	Games	White / draw / Black
0-1499	22	36%59%
1500-1999	131	43%50%
2000+	178	39%51%
All	331	40%51%

Most played moves

Move	Games	White / draw / Black
6. Bc4	76 (23%)	36%58%
6. g3	74 (22%)	43%50%
6. Be2	45 (14%)	33%16%51%
6. Bd3	33 (10%)	45%48%
6. h3	29 (9%)	38%52%
6. Be3	26 (8%)	50%46%
6. Ne5	26 (8%)	46%12%42%
6. Bg5	8 (2%)	38%12%50%

Master games

1,194 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 45%, draw 23%, Black 32%). The strongest:

LCZero 0.33-dev-f6ec55c-BT4-6147500-it332 (3749) – Berserk 20250622 (3667) 1-0 · TCEC 29 Premier 2026 · 2026-03-05
Berserk 20250622 (3667) – LCZero 0.33-dev-f6ec55c-BT4-6147500-it332 (3749) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 29 Premier 2026 · 2026-03-03
LCZero 0.27.0d-Tilps-dje-magic_JH.94-100 (3586) – Stockfish 20210113 (3601) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 20 Superfinal 2020 · 2021-01-30
Stockfish 20210113 (3601) – LCZero 0.27.0d-Tilps-dje-magic_JH.94-100 (3586) 1-0 · TCEC 20 Superfinal 2020 · 2021-01-29
GM Alireza Firouzja (2777) – GM Magnus Carlsen (2835) 1-0 · Bullet Chess Losers 2023 · 2023-07-21

Search all games of the Scandinavian Defense: Bronstein Variation and its sub-variations

Highest-rated Lichess games

FNENAD (2551) – IM Wildindian (2723) 0-1 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
El_Precisione (2588) – Udemzo (2538) 0-1 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 0s
FM JohnCena91 (2511) – Udemzo (2554) 1/2-1/2 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 0s

Comes from

Scandinavian Defense: Gubinsky-Melts Defense 1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Qxd5 3. Nc3 Qd6

More Scandinavian Defense lines (all)

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.