Scandinavian Defense: Main Line
1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Qxd5 3. Nc3 Qa5
The Scandinavian Defense: Main Line is a chess opening classified as ECO B01, reached after 1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Qxd5 3. Nc3 Qa5. It is a line of the Scandinavian Defense. White is to move. 3 named lines continue from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 94,315 times by this move order. White won 48%, 4% were drawn and Black won 48%. The most popular continuation is 4. Nf3 (35% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.57 (Stockfish, depth 55; best line 4. Nf3 c6 5. d4 Bf5 6. Ne5 Nf6)
- ECO
- B01
- Moves
- 6 plies
- FEN
rnb1kbnr/ppp1pppp/8/q7/8/2N5/PPPP1PPP/R1BQKBNR w KQkq - 2 4- PGN
1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Qxd5 3. Nc3 Qa5
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 37,324 | |
| 1500-1999 | 48,630 | |
| 2000+ | 8,361 | |
| All | 94,315 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 4. Nf3 | 32,887 (35%) | |
| 4. d4 | 29,881 (32%) | |
| 4. Bc4 | 9,927 (11%) | |
| 4. d3 | 7,242 (8%) | |
| 4. b4 Main Line, Leonhardt Gambit | 4,882 (5%) | |
| 4. Bb5+ | 1,638 (2%) | |
| 4. a3 | 1,440 (2%) | |
| 4. Be2 | 1,032 (1%) |
Master games
5,476 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 47%, draw 17%, Black 36%). The strongest:
- LCZero 0.31-dag-c93c6a8-BT4-61 (3652) – Stockfish dev-20250118-8e3e22b (3683) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 27 Theory Bonus · 2025-01-23
- Stockfish dev-20250118-8e3e22b (3683) – LCZero 0.31-dag-c93c6a8-BT4-61 (3652) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 27 Theory Bonus · 2025-01-23
- Stockfish dev-20240728-2343f71 (3662) – LCZero 0.31-dag-5350a2e-BT4-61 (3631) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 26 Balanced Lines · 2024-08-02
- GM Fabiano Caruana (2805) – GM Magnus Carlsen (2876) 1/2-1/2 · 3rd Norway Blitz 2015 · 2015-06-15
- GM Hikaru Nakamura (2807) – GM Magnus Carlsen (2839) 0-1 · Titled Tue 19th Aug Late · 2025-08-19
Search all games of the Scandinavian Defense: Main Line and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- GM gmbrewchess (2984) – Nana_jede_cevape (2856) 1-0 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 0s
- Kruciatos (2765) – FM Tsoi_Dima (2851) 1-0 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
- Kruciatos (2779) – FM Tsoi_Dima (2835) 0-1 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Scandinavian Defense: Mieses-Kotroc Variation 1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Qxd5
Continuations
- Scandinavian Defense: Main Line, Leonhardt Gambit B01 · 1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Qxd5 3. Nc3 Qa5 4. b4
- Scandinavian Defense: Anderssen Counterattack B01 · 1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Qxd5 3. Nc3 Qa5 4. d4 e5
- Scandinavian Defense: Main Line, Mieses Variation B01 · 1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Qxd5 3. Nc3 Qa5 4. d4 Nf6
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: 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
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.