Strike first with the Scandinavian
A review
For the western civilization one of the most important collection of books, if not the most important, is the one we call New Testament. In my own language, Italian, and in the historical period in which I grew up, many ways of saying, and ideas came directly by the books contained in the New Testament. In one of the books is described the conversion of Saul, a zealot persecuting Christians (it should be in the Epistle to the Galatians for those who still love to read).
More precisely in the book: Acts of the Apostles, is described the conversion of Saul into Paul: the story goes that Saul was reaching Damascus and a light surrounded him, blinded him and made him a believer in Christ (Acts of the Apostles 9:3-9 obviously I summarized quite quickly for not annoying everyone, because it should be common knowledge).

"St. Paul on road to Damascus" Photo: Ted via Creative Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Now let's return to our chess world, and soon will be evident the reason for such analogy. I was watching a video online on the new DVD on the Scandinavian authored by GM Bauer,
and I was thinking... "but why did he decide to play this Scandinavian, why not the one with Qd6, like Tiviakov?"

Scandinavian with 3...Qd6
The Scandinavian with 3...Qd6 could just as well be called “The Tiviakov System”. On this DVD GM Sergei Tiviakov shows you everything you need to know to be able to play 3...Qd6 yourself at once.
Obviously we all have fleeting thoughts, questions. Often in this frenetic world we don't take the time to go deep and try to give an answer to our questions. After a few minutes, I stopped the video, and went to consult my Oracle: Megabase 2017 (which I need to remember to update with the latest games!) opened it, opened a board, put the moves 1 e4 d5 and then click on filter and insert the name Bauer C, copied the board position, and click ok.

The result was 77 games played by Bauer, my research was for Black and White, and I saw Bauer played against the Scandinavian, so out of curiosity I checked the first game he lost against GM level opposition, who played in fact 3...Qa5; In the beginning I didn't notice the result, I was just trying to understand the game. Then I was laughing inside thinking: "well when you lose as White against the same line of the Scandinavian you propose to play that's pretty bad!" But then I realized the game I watched was his games-conversion on the way to Damascus. A game he played before adopting the Scandinavian as weapon! Bauer understood the goodness of such opening, when playing against it, and he was blinded by the light, as you can see in the following game:
Christian Bauer | Photo: Stefan64 CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Christian Bauer 0-1 Henrik Teske
Replay and check the LiveBook here |
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1.e4 d5 2.exd5 Qxd5 3.Nc3 Qa5 4.d4 Nf6 5.Nf3 c6 6.Bc4 Bf5 7.Ne5 e6 8.g4 Bg6 9.Bd2 Nbd7 10.Qe2 Bb4 11.0-0-0 Nxe5 12.dxe5 Nd5 13.Bxd5 cxd5 14.f4 0-0 15.Kb1 d4 16.Ne4 Bxd2 17.Nxd2 Rac8 18.f5 exf5 19.Nb3 Qb6 20.gxf5 Bxf5 21.Nxd4 Bg6 22.Rd2 Rfd8 23.Rhd1 h6 24.Qg4 h5 25.Qh3 Rxc2 26.Rxc2 Rxd4 27.Rdc1 Qc6 28.Qc3 Rc4 29.Qd2 Kh7 30.b3 Rxc2 31.Rxc2 h4 32.Kb2 Qxc2+ 33.Qxc2 Bxc2 34.Kxc2 Kg6 35.Kd3 Kf5 36.Kd4 g5 37.b4 g4 0–1
- Start an analysis engine:
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- Use the four cursor keys to replay the game. Make moves to analyse yourself.
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Bauer,C | 2465 | Teske,H | 2520 | 0–1 | 1996 | B01 | Bundesliga 9697 | |
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One rule in life is the following: when we don't understand a lesson, life itself continues to propose the lesson till we understand it! And this is what happened to GM Bauer who got schooled by a player 400 points under him, once more thanks to the Scandinavian...once more thanks to Qa5!
Christian Bauer 0-1 Edmond Stawiarski
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1.e4 d5 2.exd5 Qxd5 3.Nc3 Qa5 4.d4 Nf6 5.Nf3 c6 6.Bc4 Bf5 7.Bd2 e6 8.Nd5 Qd8 9.Nxf6+ Qxf6 10.Qe2 Qd8 11.d5 b5 12.Bb3 cxd5 13.Nd4 Be4 14.f3 Bg6 15.0-0-0 Be7 16.h4 h5 17.Rhe1 a6 18.Bf4 Qd7 19.Be5 0-0 20.g4 Nc6 21.Nxc6 Qxc6 22.gxh5 Bxh5 23.Rg1 f6 24.Bd4 Rac8 25.c3 b4 26.Bc2 e5 27.Qd3 e4 28.fxe4 bxc3 29.Bxc3 dxe4 30.Qg3 g6 31.Bb3+ Kh7 32.Rd5 f5 33.Kb1 Qc7 34.Qf2 Bc5 35.Bd4 Bxd4 36.Qxd4 Rfd8 37.a3 Rxd5 38.Qxd5 Rd8 39.Qe6 a5 40.Rc1 Qd7 41.Qe5 Rc8 42.Rxc8 Qxc8 43.Qxa5 Qb8 44.Qd5 Qe8 45.Kc2 Qb8 46.Kb1 Qe8 47.Qf7+ Qxf7 48.Bxf7 Kg7 49.Bc4 e3 50.Kc2 Kf6 51.Kd3 f4 52.a4 Ke5 53.a5 Bf3 54.a6 Be4+ 55.Kc3 f3 56.a7 Kf4 57.Bd3 Bd5 58.Bxg6 f2 59.Bd3 Kf3 0–1
- Start an analysis engine:
- Try maximizing the board:
- Use the four cursor keys to replay the game. Make moves to analyse yourself.
- Press Ctrl-B to rotate the board.
- Drag the split bars between window panes.
- Download&Clip PGN/GIF/FEN/QR Codes. Share the game.
- Games viewed here will automatically be stored in your cloud clipboard (if you are logged in). Use the cloud clipboard also in ChessBase.
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Bauer,C | 2525 | Stawiarski,E | 2145 | 0–1 | 1997 | B01 | Le Touquet op 12th | |
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Practically after losing these games, he converted to the Scandinavian! It is quite interesting to notice how GM Bauer became an expert of the Scandinavian, and how he switched to it little by little, experimenting, and learning from each game.
Today it is important to have all the tools our opponents use, and clearly Megabase 2017/8 is a tool you cannot miss to have, because it has the answer to all chess-related questions!

Mega Database 2018
The "Mega" is the database every serious chessplayer needs. The database contains 7.1 million games from 1500 to 2017, in highest quality standard, full of top level analyses and completely classified.
I would have never been able to put together all this information, without a huge database, which gave me the answer to the question: "but why did he begin to play the Scandinavian?"
Is GM Bauer aware of what happened to him? This is more difficult to answer, because in the introductory video he mentions many reasons, but he doesn't say: "because I was wiped over and over on the board, when I played against this opening..."
He mentions as reasons to play the Scandinavian:
- Because it has a bad reputation (Black moves the queen many times), and as consequence many white players don't dedicate enough time to study it
- Being a secondary opening for black, it gives players the luxury of dedicating more time to study other phases of the game, instead of the huge amount of time 1... e5 or 1... c5 players must dedicate to the latest trends and discoveries in those openings
- Black has a very solid pawn structure
Bauer doesn't mention it, but the Scandinavian is an antidote to the King's Indian Attack (KIA), and as we have seen in Fischer's games against Sicilian, French etc. the KIA can be quite deadly!
Coming to review the DVD, after the introductory video, Bauer dedicates a video to explain the synopsis of the course, and show the lines he will teach.
I find the Chessbase DVD system the best, because just listening to the GM lecturing, I can understand where the problems are.
Bauer shows this line: 1.e4 d5 2.exd5 Qxd5 3.Nf3 Nc6 4.Nc3 Qa5 5.Bb5:
A difficult line for Black

And he says: "this can be a difficult line for Black..."
Now, once he said these magical words, I went to check some games to understand what happened in such line.
In this way, when I actually listen to the video dedicated to this difficult line, I can already better understand what are the maneuvers for both sides, and eventually reinforce my knowledge, which will be tested under tournament conditions.
I found many games, I'll show two of them here, because they can exemplify the difficulties Black could encounter.
Anatoly Karpov 1-0 Vlastimil Hort
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1.e4 Nc6 2.Nf3 d5 3.exd5 Qxd5 4.Nc3 Qa5 5.Bb5 a6 6.Bxc6+ bxc6 7.Qe2 Nf6 8.Ne5 e6 9.0-0 Bd6 10.d4 0-0 11.Rd1 c5 12.Nc4 Qb4 13.a3 Qb8 14.Bg5 Nd5 15.Ne4 cxd4 16.Nexd6 cxd6 17.Rxd4 Ra7 18.Qd3 f6 19.Bd2 Re7 20.Re1 Bb7 21.Na5 f5 22.c4 Nf6 23.Bb4 Ne4 24.Bxd6 Nxd6 25.Rxd6 f4 26.f3 Ba8 27.b4 e5 28.c5 e4 29.fxe4 f3 30.gxf3 Qc8 31.Rd1 Qh3 32.Rd8 Ref7 33.Rxf8+ Rxf8 34.Qc4+ Kh8 35.Qf7 Rg8 36.c6 Qh6 37.c7 1–0
- Start an analysis engine:
- Try maximizing the board:
- Use the four cursor keys to replay the game. Make moves to analyse yourself.
- Press Ctrl-B to rotate the board.
- Drag the split bars between window panes.
- Download&Clip PGN/GIF/FEN/QR Codes. Share the game.
- Games viewed here will automatically be stored in your cloud clipboard (if you are logged in). Use the cloud clipboard also in ChessBase.
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Karpov,A | 2705 | Hort,V | 2615 | 1–0 | 1984 | B01 | Oslo | |
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I chose high level players, because if someone 2400+ loses in 25-35 moves, I guess someone just rated 2000 could lose faster!
Tatiana Kosintseva 1-0 Eva Repkova
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1.e4 Nc6 2.Nf3 d5 3.exd5 Qxd5 4.Nc3 Qa5 5.Bb5 Bd7 6.d4 0-0-0 7.Bd2 e6 8.0-0 a6 9.Be2 Nf6 10.a3 Qb6 11.Be3 Nd5 12.Nxd5 exd5 13.c4 Na5 14.c5 Qxb2 15.Rb1 Qa2 16.Ne5 Be8 17.Qd3 f6 18.Bg4+ Kb8 19.Qxa6 Nb3 20.Qd3 fxe5 21.Rxb3 exd4 22.Bxd4 Ba4 23.Rb4 b5 24.Rxb5+ Bxb5 25.Qxb5+ 1–0
- Start an analysis engine:
- Try maximizing the board:
- Use the four cursor keys to replay the game. Make moves to analyse yourself.
- Press Ctrl-B to rotate the board.
- Drag the split bars between window panes.
- Download&Clip PGN/GIF/FEN/QR Codes. Share the game.
- Games viewed here will automatically be stored in your cloud clipboard (if you are logged in). Use the cloud clipboard also in ChessBase.
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Kosintseva,T | 2573 | Repkova,E | 2447 | 1–0 | 2010 | B01 | Khanty-Mansiysk ol (Women) 39th | 3.1 |
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On video number three Bauer makes a statement which needs some explanations:
"In this clip I'll show you when the Scandinavian made its appearance on the chess scene..." and he shows the game played in Paris 1858 in a match between Morphy and Anderssen.
Paul Morphy 1-0 Adolf Anderssen
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1.e4 d5 2.exd5 Qxd5 3.Nc3 Qa5 4.d4 e5 5.dxe5 Qxe5+ 5...Nc6 6.Nf3 Bb4 7.Bd2 Bg4 8.a3 Nd4 9.Be2 Bxf3 10.Bxf3 Qxe5+ 11.Kf1 Bxc3 12.Bxc3 0-0-0 6.Be2 Bb4 7.Nf3 Bxc3+ 8.bxc3 Qxc3+ 9.Bd2 Qc5 10.Rb1 Nc6 11.0-0 Nf6 12.Bf4 0-0 13.Bxc7 Nd4 14.Qxd4 Qxc7 15.Bd3 Bg4 15...b6 15...h6 16.Ng5 Rfd8 17.Qb4 Bc8? 17...h6 18.Ne4 Nd5 19.Qxb7 Rac8 20.Qxc7 Rxc7 21.f3 Be6 18.Rfe1 a5 19.Qe7 Qxe7 20.Rxe7± Nd5? 21.Bxh7++- Kh8 22.Rxf7 Nc3 23.Re1 Nxa2 24.Rf4 Ra6 25.Bd3 1–0
- Start an analysis engine:
- Try maximizing the board:
- Use the four cursor keys to replay the game. Make moves to analyse yourself.
- Press Ctrl-B to rotate the board.
- Drag the split bars between window panes.
- Download&Clip PGN/GIF/FEN/QR Codes. Share the game.
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Morphy,P | - | Anderssen,A | - | 1–0 | 1858 | B01 | Match Morphy-Anderssen +7-2=2 | 7 |
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Now why do I say this statement by Bauer needs some explanations? Because I own the best chess database on earth, also known as Chessbase Megabase 2017 (soon 2018), and to check if that was the first game what did I do? I just made a search. It emerged that the first game was played in 1475, before they even discovered the Americas!

But in reality many games were played by Von Heydenbrand, and even Anderssen in the years from 1837 to 1856. Those games were played both in Paris, and Berlin, Europe in general, but we have games played with the Scandinavian also in India. Hence quite before the 1858 match between Morphy and Anderssen.
So why did Bauer say that's the first game? Very likely because he is showing a game between two world champions, or between top 10 GMs of that period. They represent the synthesis of chess understanding of their historical period. In fact also another great book, a collection of 500 games, published likely in 1952 for the first time, and then re-published by Dover in 1975, compiled and commented by Tartakower, shows a similar game, with Morphy as White, played in consultation in 1858 against Staunton. Again, two great GMs decided to use a Morphy's game for illustrating the Scandinavian. While I'm writing this review Chessbase just published a new Master Class DVD on Morphy.

Master Class Vol.9: Paul Morphy
Learn about one of the greatest geniuses in the history of chess! Paul Morphy's career (1837-1884) lasted only a few years and yet he managed to defeat the best chess players of his time.
This consultation game also predates the one used by Bauer by about six months.
Replay and check the LiveBook here |
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1.e4 d5 2.exd5 Qxd5 3.Nc3 Qd8 4.d4 Nf6 4...e6 5.Nf3 Bd6 5...Nf6 6.Bd3 Be7 7.0-0 0-0 8.Be3 b6 9.Ne5 Bb7 10.f4 Nbd7 11.Qe2 Nd5 12.Nxd5 exd5 13.Rf3 f5 14.Rh3 g6 15.g4 fxg4 16.Rxh7 6.Bd3 Ne7 7.0-0 h6 8.Be3 c6 9.Ne5 Nd7 10.f4 Nf6 11.Ne4 Nf5 12.Bf2 Bc7 13.c3 Nd5 14.Qf3 Qe7 15.Rae1 Bxe5 16.dxe5 5.Bd3 5.Nf3 Bg4 5...Nc6 5...c6 6.Nf3 Bg4 6.Be3 e6 7.Nf3 Bd6 8.0-0 0-0 9.Qe2 b6 10.Bg5 Bb7= 11.Ne4 Be7 11...Nb4!? 12.Bxf6 gxf6 12.Nxf6+ Bxf6 12...gxf6 13.Bh6 Re8 14.Ng5!± fxg5?? 15.Qe4 f5 16.Qxe6+ Kh8 17.Qxf5+- 13.Qe4! g6 14.Qh4 Bxg5 15.Nxg5 h5 16.c3 Qf6 17.Rae1 Ne7 18.f4 Nf5 19.Qh3 Rfe8 20.Re5 Rad8 21.Rfe1 Ng7 22.g4!? c5! 22...Qxf4? 23.Rf1 Qxg4+ 24.Qxg4 hxg4 25.Rxf7+- 22...Rd5 23.Ne4 23.Qg3 Rxe5 23...hxg4 24.Qxg4 Nh5 25.f5 24.dxe5 Qe7 25.Be4 Qc5+ 26.Kh1 23...Qe7 24.g5 Rxe5 25.Nf6+ Kf8 25...Qxf6 26.gxf6 Rxe1+ 27.Kf2 Ra1 28.fxg7 Rxa2-+ 26.fxe5± 23.Be4! Ba6! 23...Bxe4 24.Nxe4 Qxf4 24...Qe7 25.gxh5 Nxh5 26.Rxh5 gxh5 27.Qxh5 f5 28.Ng5 Qg7 29.Kf2 cxd4 30.Nxe6+- 25.Rf1 hxg4 26.Rxf4 gxh3 27.Nf6+ Kf8 28.Nxe8 Kxe8 29.dxc5 24.gxh5! Nxh5 25.Bf3! 25.dxc5 bxc5 25...Rd2 26.Rxc5 Rd2 27.Bc6 Red8 28.Ne4 Qxf4 29.Nxd2 Rxd2 30.Kh1 Be2!-+ 25...cxd4? 25...Nxf4 26.Qh7+ Kf8 27.Bc6 cxd4 28.Qh6+ Kg8 29.Bxe8 Rxe8 30.Nh7 Qg7 31.Qxf4 Qxh7 32.cxd4± 26.Bxh5 gxh5? 26...dxc3! 27.Be2 c2! 28.Qh7+ Kf8 29.Qh4 Kg7 30.Qf2 Bb7 31.Qe3 Rd6 32.Rc1 27.Qxh5? 27.Ne4! Qxf4 28.Rxh5 Kf8 29.cxd4 Rxd4 30.Qa3+ Re7 31.Qxa6+- 27...Qg7 27...Bd3!= 28.cxd4 Rxd4 29.Nxf7! Bg6 29...Rxf4 30.Nh6+ Kf8 31.Qxe8+ Kxe8 32.Rxe6+ Qxe6 33.Rxe6+ Kf8= 29...Qxf7?? 30.Rg5+ Kf8 31.Qh8+ Ke7 32.Qxd4+- 30.Nh6+ Kg7 31.Rg5 Rh8 32.f5 Rxh6 33.Qxh6+ Kxh6 34.Rxg6+ Qxg6+ 35.fxg6= 28.Kf2! Qf6! 28...dxc3 29.Ne4 Kf8 30.Rg1+- 29.Qh4? 29.Nxf7! Qxf4+ 30.Kg2 Bb7+ 30...Qxf7 31.Rg5+ Kf8 32.Qh6+ Ke7 33.Rg7+- 31.Kg1 Qxf7 32.Rg5+ Kf8 33.Qh6+ Ke7 34.Rg7 Qxg7+ 34...Rg8 35.Qxe6+ Kf8 36.Qxf7# 35.Qxg7++- 29...Bd3 29...dxc3 30.Rg1 Rd2+ 31.Kf3 Rd3+ 32.Kf2 32.Ke4 Qg6+ 33.f5 exf5+ 34.Kf4 Rxe5-+ 32...Rd2+= 30.Qg3 Bg6? 30...Qg6= 31.f5? Bxf5 31.f5 31.Ne4! Qg7 32.f5 f6 32...Bxf5? 33.Nf6+ Kf8 34.Qxg7+ Kxg7 35.Nxe8++- Kf8 35...Rxe8 36.Rxf5+- 36.cxd4 Rxe8 37.Rxf5+- exf5 38.Rxe8+ Kxe8 39.h4+- 33.Rxe6 Rxe6 34.fxe6 Bxe4 35.Rxe4 Qxg3+ 36.Kxg3 d3 37.e7 Re8 38.Kf3± Kg7 39.Re3 39.Ke3 f5 40.Ra4 Rxe7+ 41.Kxd3 Kf6 42.h4 39...f5 40.Rxd3 Rxe7 41.Rd6± 31...Bxf5 31...dxc3 32.Ne4 Qg7 33.fxg6+- 32.Ne4+ Qg6 33.Nf6+ Kf8 34.Qxg6 Bxg6 35.Nxe8 Kxe8 35...dxc3 36.bxc3 Kxe8 37.h4 Kf8 38.h5 Bf5 39.Rg1 36.h4!? 36.cxd4 Rxd4 36...d3 37.Ke3 Ke7 37...d2 38.Rd1 Rd3+ 39.Kf2 Rh3 40.Rxd2 Rh2+ 41.Ke3 Rxh4 42.Rd4 Rh3+ 43.Kd2 Rh2+ 44.Re2 38.Kd2 Rd6? 38...Rh8 39.h5 Bxh5 40.Rh1 f5 41.Re3 Kf6 42.Rxd3 39.Rg5!± 39.h5 f6 39...Kf6 40.Rf1+ Bf5 41.Rg8 Rd5? 41...Rc6 42.h5 Rc4 42.h5+- Re5 43.Rf2 Re4 44.Rh2 Bh7 45.Rh8 Kg7 46.Ra8 Kh6 46...a5 47.h6+ Kf6 48.Rh8 Bf5 49.Rf8+- Ke7 50.Rb8 Re2+ 51.Rxe2 dxe2 52.Kxe2+- 47.Rxa7 Rf4 48.Rb7 e5 49.Rxb6+ f6 50.a4 e4 51.Re6 Rf3 52.a5 1–0
- Start an analysis engine:
- Try maximizing the board:
- Use the four cursor keys to replay the game. Make moves to analyse yourself.
- Press Ctrl-B to rotate the board.
- Drag the split bars between window panes.
- Download&Clip PGN/GIF/FEN/QR Codes. Share the game.
- Games viewed here will automatically be stored in your cloud clipboard (if you are logged in). Use the cloud clipboard also in ChessBase.
- Create an account to access the games cloud.
Morphy\Barnes | - | Staunton\Owen | - | 1–0 | 1858 | B01 | Consultation Morphy-Staunton 2-0 | 2 |
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Structure
The DVD is presented in 30 videos, plus one more for the conclusion. I found the videos quite helpful, especially for ideas on how to treat some sidelines which often happen when White tries to avoid the Scandinavian. It made me think on how to avoid to enter into the Caro-Kann, which is one possibility when White plays 1.e4 d5 2.Nc3 dxe4 3.Nxe4 Bf5 4.Ng3 Bg6 5.h4 h6 6.Nf3 Nc6
I don't continue to avoid to spoil the surprise to White players, but it will be a surprise!
The DVD ends with 13 video clips of interactive tests, where Bauer shows typical positions, and ask us to find the right move for Black. There are two databases, one with the theoretical framework on which the videos are based, and one with 78 games selected by Bauer for us to study and memorize.
Final Thoughts
I've been a follower of Tiviakov, and the Qd6 Scandinavian for a while. However I wanted to learn to play Qa5. I know GM Bauer wrote a book years ago on it, but to be honest I find books boring. I prefer a GM voice teach me the lines, and always throught the voice places emphasis on what is important and what is not. As soon as I saw this DVD I got it, because now thanks to his teachings I can add variety to my Scandinavian repertoire, and keep my opponents on their toes. One last thought: ChessBase — thanks to the Chessbase Account membership — provides all "60 minutes" videos, and one of these videos created by IM Andrew Martin teaches the 3...Qd8 Scandinavian, successfully used by Carlsen. In this way one can learn all the three standard answers to 3.Nc3.

A solid Scandinavian Surprise
Accompany FIDE Senior Trainer and IM Andrew Martin on this 60 mins video. You can learn a new opening system in 60 mins and start to play it with confidence on the very same day!