Scandinavian Defense: Main Line, Mieses Variation
1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Qxd5 3. Nc3 Qa5 4. d4 Nf6
The Scandinavian Defense: Main Line, Mieses Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO B01, reached after 1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Qxd5 3. Nc3 Qa5 4. d4 Nf6. 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 10,352 times by this move order. White won 47%, 5% were drawn and Black won 48%. The most popular continuation is 5. Bd2 (42% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.56 (Stockfish, depth 55; best line 5. Nf3 Bf5 6. Ne5 c6 7. Bc4 e6)
- ECO
- B01
- Moves
- 8 plies
- FEN
rnb1kb1r/ppp1pppp/5n2/q7/3P4/2N5/PPP2PPP/R1BQKBNR w KQkq - 1 5- PGN
1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Qxd5 3. Nc3 Qa5 4. d4 Nf6
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 2,872 | |
| 1500-1999 | 5,719 | |
| 2000+ | 1,761 | |
| All | 10,352 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 5. Bd2 | 4,308 (42%) | |
| 5. Nf3 | 4,043 (39%) | |
| 5. Bc4 | 861 (8%) | |
| 5. Bd3 | 258 (2%) | |
| 5. h3 | 188 (2%) | |
| 5. Bf4 | 139 (1%) | |
| 5. Be3 | 134 (1%) | |
| 5. d5 | 90 (1%) |
Master games
3,895 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 41%, draw 20%, Black 39%). The strongest:
- Fire 021819 (3752) – Houdini 6.03 (3854) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 20 Premier 2020 · 2020-03-19
- Houdini 6.03 (3854) – Fire 021819 (3752) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 20 Premier 2020 · 2020-03-17
- Ethereal 12.19 (3708) – rofChade 2.303 (3661) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 18 Premier 2020 · 2020-06-13
- rofChade 2.303 (3661) – Ethereal 12.19 (3708) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 18 Premier 2020 · 2020-06-09
- LCZero 0.31-dag-e429eeb-BT3-2790000 (3642) – Stockfish dev-20231010-00263636 (3673) 1-0 · TCEC 25 Superfinal 2023 · 2023-10-12
Search all games of the Scandinavian Defense: Main Line, Mieses Variation and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- Meatloaf927 (2719) – FM rychessmaster1 (2725) 0-1 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
- Drogono (2854) – GM Gettingold72 (2585) 0-1 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
- tsnylsw (2739) – shahruh94 (2679) 1-0 · 2026-09-06 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Scandinavian Defense: Main Line 1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Qxd5 3. Nc3 Qa5
Continuations
- Scandinavian Defense: Classical Variation B01 · 1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Qxd5 3. Nc3 Qa5 4. d4 Nf6 5. Nf3 Bf5
- Scandinavian Defense: Lasker Variation B01 · 1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Qxd5 3. Nc3 Qa5 4. d4 Nf6 5. Nf3 Bg4 6. h3
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: Grünfeld Variation B01
- Scandinavian Defense: Gubinsky-Melts Defense 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.