Scandinavian Defense: Classical Variation
1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Qxd5 3. Nc3 Qa5 4. d4 Nf6 5. Nf3 Bf5
The Scandinavian Defense: Classical Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO B01, reached after 1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Qxd5 3. Nc3 Qa5 4. d4 Nf6 5. Nf3 Bf5. It is a line of the Scandinavian Defense. White is to move. 1 named line continues from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 657 times by this move order. White won 49%, 6% were drawn and Black won 45%. The most popular continuation is 6. Bd2 (26% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.72 (Stockfish, depth 50; best line 6. Bd2 e6 7. Ne5 Qb6 8. Qf3 c6)
- ECO
- B01
- Moves
- 10 plies
- FEN
rn2kb1r/ppp1pppp/5n2/q4b2/3P4/2N2N2/PPP2PPP/R1BQKB1R w KQkq - 3 6- PGN
1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Qxd5 3. Nc3 Qa5 4. d4 Nf6 5. Nf3 Bf5
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 176 | |
| 1500-1999 | 312 | |
| 2000+ | 169 | |
| All | 657 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 6. Bd2 | 174 (26%) | |
| 6. Bc4 | 168 (26%) | |
| 6. Bd3 | 143 (22%) | |
| 6. Ne5 | 58 (9%) | |
| 6. Be2 | 35 (5%) | |
| 6. Bf4 | 20 (3%) | |
| 6. h3 | 17 (3%) | |
| 6. Bg5 | 9 (1%) |
Master games
1,647 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 40%, draw 21%, Black 39%). The strongest:
- LCZero 0.31-dag-5350a2e-BT4-61 (3631) – Stockfish dev-20240728-2343f71 (3662) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 26 Balanced Lines · 2024-08-02
- GM So, W. (2760) – GM Magnus Carlsen (2853) 1-0 · Superbet Blitz 2023 · 2023-05-24
- GM Alireza Firouzja (2759) – GM Magnus Carlsen (2847) 1-0 · Aimchess US Rapid Prelim · 2021-08-28
- GM Leinier Dominguez Perez (2758) – GM Magnus Carlsen (2847) 1/2-1/2 · Aimchess US Rapid Prelim · 2021-08-29
- GM Fabiano Caruana (2819) – GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (2774) 1/2-1/2 · Croatia GCT 2019 · 2019-07-06
Search all games of the Scandinavian Defense: Classical Variation and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- Meatloaf927 (2719) – FM rychessmaster1 (2725) 0-1 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
- onthewaygm (2623) – Schmargendorf (2617) 0-1 · 2026-09-06 · 180 + 0s
- MothToTheFlame (2622) – Schmargendorf (2614) 0-1 · 2026-09-06 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Scandinavian Defense: Main Line, Mieses Variation 1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Qxd5 3. Nc3 Qa5 4. d4 Nf6
Continuations
- Scandinavian Defense: Grünfeld Variation B01 · 1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Qxd5 3. Nc3 Qa5 4. d4 Nf6 5. Nf3 Bf5 6. Ne5 c6 7. g4
More Scandinavian Defense lines (all)
- Scandinavian Defense (1. e4 d5) B01
- Scandinavian Defense (1… d5 2. b3) B01
- 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: 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.