In a recent comment Kevin wrote:
“… does anyone have any exciting lines against the Scandinavian (e4 d5)? In order to cut out a lot of theory, I was thinking of simply playing e5 in response to black’s d5. Is that sound? “
As far as I know it is actually playable, but not regarded as a way for white to make the most of the opening. The point is black can get a good version of the Advance variation of the French Defence by playing 2… Bf5, thus playing a French Defence type of position but with the light squared bishop outside the pawn chain.
Although black should get a good game out of this, it leads to a very different type of position to those typical of the Scandinavian Defence after 2.ed, so I think it comes down to which side is more comfortable with the kind of position arising.
Note that although the position after 2… Bf5 is usually compared with the French Advance, to me it looks strategically more like the Caro-Kann Advance variation. It seems to me that making the c7-c5 break in one move (rather than two) probably changes things less than having the bishop outside the pawn chain.
I’ve just looked at the ChessBase Online Database and there are twenty games with 1.e4 d5 2.e5 played between players with Elo ratings of 2200 (ECF 200) or higher.
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