Scandinavian Defense: Modern Variation with 3.Bc4 — Playing as Black

White's 3.Bc4 aims to develop a bishop to an aggressive diagonal and tempt Black into a mistake. The idea is that Black's knight on d5 looks vulnerable — White often wants to trade it immediately. But here's the thing: after 3...Nxd5, Black has a comfortable position with a strong central knight. Your knight is doing a great job controlling key squares like e3 and f4. White's bishop on c4 might look active, but it can also become a target later with moves like ...b5 or ...c6, gaining time. The key for you as Black is to develop quickly, not give White any cheap tactics, and trust that your piece coordination will shine through.

Stockfish's best move is 4.Nf3, continuing with the natural plan 4...Bf5 5.Nh4 Bg6. This line shows what the engine considers the most challenging path for White. Notice that White is willing to exchange their knight for your bishop — that's not a huge loss for you, and it opens the h-file for your rook later. From this line, Black should be comfortable: you've developed your queen's bishop actively, and after Nh4 you simply retreat to g6. You're not losing time because White spent two moves with the same knight. The resulting positions are perfectly playable for Black, with solid development and no weaknesses.

The most popular continuation — played in 223,755 games — is 4.Bxd5, and it's a clear mistake that loses about 1.4 pawns. White takes your knight, but after 4...Qxd5, Black has a dominating queen in the centre. White's kingside knight is still on g1, White hasn't castled, and your queen is beautifully placed on d5. Black scores a massive 62.3% after Bxd5 (White only 37.7%). That's a huge swing. The reason: White has traded a developed bishop for your knight, but Black wins the exchange of centre control and gains time. Your queen is actually hard to chase away safely. If you see 4.Bxd5 on the board, you should feel confident — you're already winning.

Two other White moves are imprecise: 4.Qf3 and 4.Qh5. Both lose about 0.7 pawns. The queen sorties look aggressive — White attacks your knight on d5 — but you can easily defend or retreat it. After 4.Qf3, you can simply play ...c6, giving the knight a safe square while also preparing ...b5 to attack the bishop. After 4.Qh5, you can play ...Nxc3 or ...Nb6, gaining time. In both cases, White's queen is exposed on the kingside and can become a target. The statistics back this up: 4.Qf3 scores 48.0% for White (so Black scores 52%), and 4.Qh5 gives White 49.4% (Black 50.6%). Not as bad as Bxd5, but still slightly favourable for you.