The Scandinavian: A Complete Chess Opening Repertoire Against 1.e4 is a chess ebook targeting the whole range from beginners up to masters.
The Scandinavian Defense is favored by a large number of grandmasters and has often been employed as a surprise weapon by a number of high-class players. Indian Grandmaster and World Champion Viswanathan Anand used it against Garry Kasparov in their 1995 PCA World Championship match. Anand managed to equalize out of the opening, but he faltered later on.
Perhaps the greatest exponent of the Scandinavian was Australian Grandmaster Ian Rogers, who used it to rock the chess world in the 1980s. Danish Grandmaster Bent Larsen also made many significant contributions to this opening.
"The Scandinavian Defense is very good for converting into a win against slightly weaker players, holding for a draw against stronger players, and often picking off pawns and winning against stronger players as well" - International Master Joshua Waitzkin
Features of the Scandinavian Defense ebook
- All the analysis in this ebook has been computer-checked by the computer chess world champion Rybka.
- A complete repertoire against 1.e4 is provided, with two major suggestions given to deal with the main line.
- This ebook recommends the traditional main line 1.e4 d5 2.exd5 Qxd5 3.Nc3 Qa5.
- The repertoire is easy to learn and it focuses on ideas and plans rather than variations, although plenty of analysis is given so that the repertoire is as accurate and detailed as possible.
- Heavily annotated to guide new players to the flavor of the opening.
- Explanations are given to why particular moves are inferior.
- The ebook has been 'back-solved' (i.e. there's an overall assessment on every single position).
- 8 openings books have been studied to prepare this ebook, including 3 specialist Scandinavian books by International Masters and higher (these books are listed below).
- There are 3,824 unique positions in this ebook.
Books studied to prepare this ebook
- Attacking with 1 e4, John Emms (Everyman 2001, reprinted 2003)
- Nunn's Chess Openings, Nunn, Burgess, Emms & Gallagher (Everyman/Gambit 1999)
- Opening for White according to Anand 1.e4, Volume 3, Alexander Khalifman (Chess Stars 2004)
- Starting Out: 1 e4: A Reliable Repertoire for the Improving Player, Neil McDonald (Everyman 2006)
- The Chess Advantage in Black and White: Opening Moves of the Grandmasters, Larry Kaufman (Random House Puzzles & Games 2004)
- The Essential Center Counter: A Practical Guide for Black, Andrew Martin (Thinkers' Press 2004)
- The Scandinavian (2nd Edition), John Emms (Everyman 2004, reprinted 2006)
- The Scandinavian Defence, James Plaskett (Batsford 2005)
Please note that this ebook is in the Chess Opening Wizard (COW) format. You will also get two videos (WMV format) discussing the Caro-Kann defense and the Scandinavian defense, and a ChessBase file (CBV).