Conversely, there are other openings I feel uncomfortable against, but my results are surprisingly good.
I am sure I am not alone in feeling this way.
Last night was a good example, when I played on top board for Battersea 3 against London Deaf in division two of the Central London League.
Spanton (163) - Neil Dunlop (161)
1.e4 d5 2.exd5 Qxd5 3.Nc3 Qd6
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Black's queen is more centrally placed than after the other common third moves, ...Qa5 and ...Qd8, but also more prone to harassment by White's minor pieces |
4.d4 Nf6
One of my games saw 4...Nc6?, a move that has been chosen by at least two 2500+ players. Black is already in serious trouble after the reply 5.Nb5.
5.Nf3 c6 6.g3
The main line goes 6.Ne5 Nbd7 7.Nc4 Qc7 8.Qf3, with an initiative.
6...Bf5 7.Bg2 h6
Black prepares a retreat for the bishop, which suggests White should seriously consider pre-empting this with 7.Nh4!?
8.0-0 e6 9.Re1 Be7 10.Bf4 Qd8
So Black's queen ends up on d8 anyway.
More active was the double-edged 10...Qb4!?
11.Qe2 0-0 12.Rad1
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White has a huge lead in development after 12.Rad1 |
Despite this, my main analysis engines reckon the position is equal; Stockfish9 even minutely prefers Black.
Older (for which, read weaker) engines are more sympathetic to White's set-up. Crafty19 and Fritz5.32, for example, give White a tiny edge.
I guess the point is that Black has no weaknesses and will be able to complete development without making positional concessions.
Nevertheless, I think White's position is easier to play, and the game seemed to bear that out (1-0, 56 moves).
Checking the opening today, I see I have scored +4=0-0 against 3...Qd6, +2=0-0 against 3...Qd8, and a non-perfect, but still respectable, +8=7-3 (64%) against 3...Qa5.
And yet I know I have felt uncomfortable facing the Scandinavian, hence why I have sometimes met 1.e4 d5 with 2.d4 (scoring +2=0-1).
As the great Greavsie was wont to say about another pastime: "It's a funny old game."
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