The Scandinavian, 2nd

Rating:
Summary: Superficial in Spots ...
Review: Every time I play the Scandinavian, I'm taken out of this book by 1.e4 d5 2.ed5 Qd5 3.Nc3 Qa5 4.d4 Nf6 5.Bd2 c6 6.Ne4 ... . The positions following this line aren't bad, but they're thematically much different than the main lines, and not as easy to play for black. White's game plays itself. In any case, more coverage of early deviations would have been nice.

Rating:
Summary: THIS IS A GOOD BOOK
Review: I had to write this review after seeing what had been written below by other reviewers.

The Scandinavian is one of the few lines were understanding piece placement and typical themes can get you thru most of the lines. OF course, some lines are sharp, but that is why you get an opening book - to have an idea what the typical GM plans/moves are.

The line that people have given with Ne4 is not close to a test of the Scandinavian - no GM would seriously play it against a peer.

THe key to learning an opening like the Scandi is to know the typical ideas that are common within the pawn structure and with specific piece placements. GM Emms does this very well - I learned some tactical patterns after repeated use and study of the Icelandic Gambit and the attacking themes in it. He also explains the key idea of the Scandi - light square domination - and stresses it wherever it occurs.

I think the book is theoretically correct in the mainlines. Some of the sidelines are not as well explained or analyzed - but I think that will be a failing in any book where a GM has to look thru many games. Emms does recommend new moves on occasion, though since I'm not a chess magazine subscriber, I'm unsure how much of his material is new or original.

However, for anyone who wants to understand the Scandinavian, you can do much worse than buy this book. Just playing over all the games in a chapter gives you an idea of what goes on in that line. A lot of credit goes to the opening and its simple (if you can say that about chess) nature, but credit must also be given to the writer for his selection of games and his explanations of thematic ideas.

Rating:
Summary: A well-written up-to-date book on the Scandinavian Defence
Review: I think this is the chess book to get if you want the Scandinavian to be your main defence against 1 e4. And this is indeed my main defence, so much so that I feel I could almost write a book on "My Life as a Scandinavian."

For the record, I play and recommend the following lines for Black:

1 e4 d5 2 ed Nf6 3 c4 e6 (the Icelandic Gambit) 4 de (4 d4 ed 5 Nc3 Bb4) Be6 5 Nf3 (5 d4 Bb4+ 6 Bd2 Bd2+) Qe7 6 Qe2 Nc6 7 d4 Bg4

1 e4 d5 2 ed Nf6 3 Bb5+ Bd7 4 Bc4 Bg4 5 f3 Bf5 6 Nc3 Nbd7

1 e4 d5 2 ed Nf6 3 Nc3 Nd5 4 Bc4 Nb6 5 Bb3 Nc6 6 Nf3 e5

1 e4 d5 2 ed Nf6 3 d4 Nd5 4 c4 Nb6 5 Nf3 Bg4 6 Be2 (6 c5 N6d7) Nc6

1 e4 d5 2 Nc3 de 3 Ne4 Bf5

1 e4 d5 2 e5 c5

1 e4 d5 2 d4 (Blackmar Gambit) de 3 Nc3 Nf6

1 e4 d5 2 Nf3 (trying for a Budapest Reversed?) de 3 Ng5 Bf5 4 Bc4 e6 5 Nc3 Nf6

Still, if you want to rely on this opening for Black, you ought to read some other books as well. Here are a few I recommend:

Skandinavisch und Jugoslawisch (Schwartz, 1969)
The Chess Opening for You (Evans, 1975)
Center Counter (Grefe and Silman, 1983)
Winning With the Scandinavian (Harman and Taulbut, 1993)

You probably ought to look at the recent book, "The Scandinavian Defence" by Plaskett too.

In any case, I recommend the present book by Emms. It contains 72 analyzed games, 47 of which are from 1998 or later. It definitely presents a modern assessment of this defence.

Rating:
Summary: This is a good book, from White's or Black's viewpoint.
Review: Ok, I know that some of the reviewers have said that the book is incomplete in that it lacks some of the lines frequently played by White. I guess so, but I don't come across those lines frequently on the internet or in rated over the board events. True, Emms does not cover all the lines. You can fault him for that, but I don't think it is possible to cover all the White (I play the Black side of the Scandinavian, never White's as I play 1. d4 as White)possiblities in a book of this scope. This book is obviously designed to get you playing the Scandi reasonably well in a short period of time. Emms covers the main lines, the most likely deviations and covers the ideas and plans behind those lines. This book is for club players who need a reasonable defense to 1. e4. I will go on to say that even club players would most likely want to follow up with another book on the Scandi to fill in the gaps. I guess that I collect chess books so getting another does not bother me.
Now, about the opening. What I like about the Scandi is that at the club level, Black is more likely to have a better idea of what is going on that White. I used to play the Sicilian Dragon. In my opinion, not a good idea for club players. I have better results with the Scandi because I have a more open game with more play for my pieces. Maybe I just played the Dragon poorly, but I have never regretted switching.

Rating:
Summary: How useful this book is depends on the side you play it from
Review: This book is hard to rate. I would have given it 5 stars from the White side, 3 stars (if that) from the Black side. I have played this line from both sides, and the main problem with the book is, as mentioned in a previous review, it lacks a lot of the deviations white can play. In order to master the White side of the Scandinavian, one doesn't have to know all the deviations, just needs a sound system to play against it. Black, however, must know what to do if a player deviates, such as that 6.Ne4 mentioned in a previous review, or in my case, I used to play the scandinavian with 2...Nf6, and 3.Nc3 isn't even mentioned, though played constantly. If it's going to cover the caro-kann panov, it should also cover the Scandinavian/Alekhine hybrid. What is good that is he isn't biased toward one side, like many opening books are. Definitely worth getting if you need something to beat that annoying Center-Counter, but if you are looking to play it as black, it's not a "bad" book, but it's far from complete, and you would need another source to fill all the gaps.