Scandinavian Defense: Modern Variation (2… Nf6 3. d4)
1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Nf6 3. d4
The Scandinavian Defense: Modern Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO B01, reached after 1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Nf6 3. d4. It is a line of the Scandinavian Defense. Black is to move. 4 named lines continue from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 20,274 times by this move order. White won 49%, 5% were drawn and Black won 46%. The most popular continuation is 3… Nxd5 (54% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.66 (Stockfish, depth 50; best line 3… Qxd5 4. Nc3 Qa5 5. Nf3 Bf5 6. Ne5)
- ECO
- B01
- Moves
- 5 plies
- FEN
rnbqkb1r/ppp1pppp/5n2/3P4/3P4/8/PPP2PPP/RNBQKBNR b KQkq - 0 3- PGN
1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Nf6 3. d4
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 2,330 | |
| 1500-1999 | 12,977 | |
| 2000+ | 4,967 | |
| All | 20,274 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 3… Nxd5 Marshall Variation | 11,013 (54%) | |
| 3… Bg4 Portuguese Gambit | 3,879 (19%) | |
| 3… Qxd5 | 2,381 (12%) | |
| 3… c6 | 1,417 (7%) | |
| 3… e6 | 855 (4%) | |
| 3… Bf5 | 421 (2%) | |
| 3… g6 Richter Variation (3. d4 g6) | 137 (1%) | |
| 3… e5 | 43 (0%) |
Master games
345 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 59%, draw 12%, Black 29%). The strongest:
- 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 Andrew Hong (2504) – GM Awonder Liang (2613) 1-0 · chess.com Junior Speed · 2022-04-14
- FM Moritz Weishaeutel (2438) – GM Alexandr Fier (2589) 1-0 · Titled Tue 23rd May Early · 2023-05-23
- GM Sergei Azarov (2604) – IM Alexey Chos (2296) 1-0 · Titled Tuesday 12th May · 2020-05-12
- GM Aryan Tari (2614) – FM Joran Aulin-Jansson (2274) 1-0 · TCh-NOR Elite 2018-19 · 2018-11-02
Search all games of the Scandinavian Defense: Modern Variation and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- Sunrise34 (2879) – GM Som2310 (2772) 1-0 · 2026-09-06 · 180 + 0s
- Tempstream (2736) – GM sillyMASTER (2859) 1/2-1/2 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
- Kruciatos (2661) – GM sillyMASTER (2825) 0-1 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Scandinavian Defense: Modern Variation (2. exd5 Nf6) 1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Nf6
Continuations
- Scandinavian Defense: Marshall Variation B01 · 1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Nf6 3. d4 Nxd5
- Scandinavian Defense: Portuguese Gambit B01 · 1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Nf6 3. d4 Bg4
- Scandinavian Defense: Richter Variation (3. d4 g6) B01 · 1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Nf6 3. d4 g6
- Scandinavian Defense: Kádas Gambit B01 · 1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Nf6 3. d4 c6 4. dxc6 e5
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: Classical Variation B01
- Scandinavian Defense: Grünfeld Variation 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.