My First Opening Repertoire Scandinavian Defense by GM Alex Colovic 13 Sep 2024

The Fastest and Safest Way to Steer the Game Your Way as Black

Your first opening repertoire should be something that’s easy to play, logical, and doesn’t require tons of memorization. GM Alex Colovic’s Scandinavian Defense fits the bill perfectly – you won’t get caught out early in the game and you’ll always get to a playable middlegame.

The repertoire is based on the quirky move 3…Qd8. It may look unusual to bring your Queen out, only to run away again, but breaking the rule of “don’t bring your Queen out too early” is actually a great way to steer the game in your direction.

This retreat is one of the most solid ways to play the Scandinavian, making sure your queen doesn’t get caught out in the open and setting yourself up for an ultra-solid structure that is very difficult to attack.

As you learn and play the Scandinavian, you’ll realize just how hard it is for White to attack you. There are few traps and zero weaknesses in your position, giving you a smooth route into the middlegame where you can start to outplay your opponent.

GM Colovic takes you through each move in detail, explaining where your pieces should go and why. The Scandinavian is a great choice if you want to cut down on the amount of theory you need to learn – the number of sidelines is tiny compared to other openings.

If White plays a sideline, you’ll be ready grab some extra space and develop your pieces smoothly

Could you punish White’s opening play here? GM Colovic will show you how!

This mini-repertoire gives you everything you need to know to start playing the Scandinavian. The setups are coherent and consistent, which means you’ll get the same types of middlegames every time you play. GM Colovic explains the most common middlegame ideas in these structures, ensuring you’ll be better armed than your opponents

The deeply annotated model games show how superstars like GM Hikaru Nakamura handle this opening. And you won’t have to spend a whole lifetime memorizing the theory – with just 34 trainable variations, this is one of Chessable’s most compact repertoires ever.

GM Alex Colovic was the first Grandmaster to ever publish a course on Chessable. He’s a fan favorite who has published complete opening repertoires for both colors, along with courses on the endgame technique of both Bobby Fischer and José Raúl Capablanca.

If you want to show off your middlegame skills, then you have to survive the opening first. GM Alex Colovic’s Scandinavian Defense is the fastest route to playing the opening like a pro.