Scandinavian Defense: Mieses-Kotroc Variation
1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Qxd5
The Scandinavian Defense: Mieses-Kotroc Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO B01, reached after 1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Qxd5. 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 367,791 times by this move order. White won 50%, 5% were drawn and Black won 45%. The most popular continuation is 3. Nc3 (73% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.52 (Stockfish, depth 60; best line 3. Nc3 Qd6 4. Nf3 Nf6 5. d4 c6)
- ECO
- B01
- Moves
- 4 plies
- FEN
rnb1kbnr/ppp1pppp/8/3q4/8/8/PPPP1PPP/RNBQKBNR w KQkq - 0 3- PGN
1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Qxd5
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 158,903 | |
| 1500-1999 | 184,804 | |
| 2000+ | 24,084 | |
| All | 367,791 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 3. Nc3 | 269,188 (73%) | |
| 3. Nf3 | 43,992 (12%) | |
| 3. d4 | 31,493 (9%) | |
| 3. c4 | 8,804 (2%) | |
| 3. Qf3 | 5,642 (2%) | |
| 3. d3 | 3,104 (1%) | |
| 3. b3 | 812 (0%) | |
| 3. h3 | 682 (0%) |
Master games
5,850 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 44%, draw 17%, Black 39%). The strongest:
- LCZero 0.31-dag-5107404-T2-5230000 (3633) – Stockfish dev-20230903-b25d68f6 (3666) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 25 Premier 2023 · 2023-09-06
- Stockfish dev-20230903-b25d68f6 (3666) – LCZero 0.31-dag-5107404-T2-5230000 (3633) 1-0 · TCEC 25 Premier 2023 · 2023-09-06
- LCZero 0.28-dev+_69626 (3623) – Stockfish 14_202107131735 (3639) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 21 Superfinal 2021 · 2021-07-26
- Stockfish 14_202107131735 (3639) – LCZero 0.28-dev+_69626 (3623) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 21 Superfinal 2021 · 2021-07-26
- RubiChess20240420 (3531) – KomodoDragon3.3 (3592) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 26 Premier 2024 · 2024-04-25
Search all games of the Scandinavian Defense: Mieses-Kotroc Variation 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 (1. e4 d5) 1. e4 d5
Continuations
- Scandinavian Defense: Gubinsky-Melts Defense B01 · 1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Qxd5 3. Nc3 Qd6
- Scandinavian Defense: Main Line B01 · 1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Qxd5 3. Nc3 Qa5
- Scandinavian Defense: Valencian Variation B01 · 1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Qxd5 3. Nc3 Qd8
More Scandinavian Defense lines (all)
- 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: Classical Variation B01
- Scandinavian Defense: Grünfeld Variation 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.