Scandinavian Defense: Valencian Variation, Main Line
1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Qxd5 3. Nc3 Qd8 4. d4 Nf6 5. Nf3 Bg4
The Scandinavian Defense: Valencian Variation, Main Line is a chess opening classified as ECO B01, reached after 1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Qxd5 3. Nc3 Qd8 4. d4 Nf6 5. Nf3 Bg4. It is a line of the Scandinavian Defense. White is to move.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 1,788 times by this move order. White won 48%, 6% were drawn and Black won 46%. The most popular continuation is 6. Be2 (48% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.52 (Stockfish, depth 56; best line 6. h3 Bxf3 7. Qxf3 c6 8. g4 Qxd4)
- ECO
- B01
- Moves
- 10 plies
- FEN
rn1qkb1r/ppp1pppp/5n2/8/3P2b1/2N2N2/PPP2PPP/R1BQKB1R w KQkq - 3 6- PGN
1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Qxd5 3. Nc3 Qd8 4. d4 Nf6 5. Nf3 Bg4
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 516 | |
| 1500-1999 | 1,075 | |
| 2000+ | 197 | |
| All | 1,788 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 6. Be2 | 860 (48%) | |
| 6. h3 | 404 (23%) | |
| 6. Bc4 | 226 (13%) | |
| 6. Be3 | 123 (7%) | |
| 6. Bg5 | 69 (4%) | |
| 6. Bf4 | 29 (2%) | |
| 6. Bd3 | 29 (2%) | |
| 6. Bb5+ | 20 (1%) |
Master games
956 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 46%, draw 28%, Black 26%). The strongest:
- KomodoDragon 2894.00 (3600) – Stockfish dev15_20220401 (3617) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 22 Superfinal 2022 · 2022-04-10
- Stockfish dev15_20220401 (3617) – KomodoDragon 2894.00 (3600) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 22 Superfinal 2022 · 2022-04-10
- GM Fabiano Caruana (2801) – GM Magnus Carlsen (2877) 0-1 · 41st Olympiad Open 2014 · 2014-08-08
- GM Alireza Firouzja (2737) – GM Hikaru Nakamura (2794) 0-1 · Bullet Chess Winners 2024 · 2024-06-13
- GM Anish Giri (2764) – GM Mateusz Bartel (2648) 1/2-1/2 · Titled Tuesday 2nd June · 2020-06-02
Search all games of the Scandinavian Defense: Valencian Variation, Main Line and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- CM chess23time (2665) – IM Angelicanmade (2531) 1-0 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
- iKun123 (2570) – IM Angelicanmade (2560) 0-1 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
- Partake (2581) – IM Angelicanmade (2490) 1-0 · 2026-09-06 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Scandinavian Defense: Valencian Variation 1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Qxd5 3. Nc3 Qd8
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.