Scandinavian Defense: Valencian Variation

The Valencian Variation is 1.e4 d5 2.exd5 Qxd5 3.Nc3 Qd8, a line of the Scandinavian Defense in which the queen goes all the way back to its starting square instead of 3...Qa5, the main line.

History

The retreat 3...Qd8 appears in Scachs d'amor, a Catalan poem of the 15th century. With that in mind, Sergi Núñez de Arenas and Francisco Rubio proposed the name Valencian Variation in a 2023 article for the Spanish magazine Peón de Rey.

Before the 20th century 3...Qd8 was often considered the main line, and Howard Staunton called it best in his Chess-Player's Handbook. It was gradually superseded by 3...Qa5. In the 1960s it had something of a revival after David Bronstein played it against Andrija Fuderer in 1959, although Bronstein lost that game.

Main lines

• 4.d4 Nf6 is the older line, the one Bronstein played. After 5.Nf3 Bg4 the game reaches this site's main line of the variation.
• 4.d4 g6, with a later ...Ng8-h6, is a fianchetto system explored by Karl Robatsch and other grandmasters. Its reputation suffered after Bobby Fischer beat Robatsch at the 1962 Olympiad, a game later published in My 60 Memorable Games.

Fischer also beat William Addison in a 3...Qd8 game in 1970. The variation as a whole remains playable, though it is considered somewhat passive. It is played particularly by the IMs John Bartholomew and Daniel Lowinger and the GMs David Garcia Ilundain and Nikola Djukić.

The numbers

On Lichess White wins 50.1% of the 17 million games and Black 44.5%. White's lead is largest under 1400, 52.9% against 42.7%; from 2200 up it is 49.3% against 42.4%. In 1,437 master games over the board White won 39.2%, Black 22.3%, and 38.4% were drawn.