Scandinavian Defense: what should Black play?

In this position from the Scandinavian Defense, Black's objectively soundest choice is the immediate pawn recapture exd5. Reclaiming the central pawn attacks the enemy bishop on c4 and eliminates White's advanced pawn wedge, yielding a near-equal evaluation of -0.29. Neglecting this recapture allows White to seize a clear advantage, making it practically mandatory.

The strategic necessity of exd5

Recapturing with exd5 is overwhelmingly favored in practice, having been selected in 99.8% of recorded games (9.08M recorded out of 9.10M total). From this position, White scores 44.9% across the database. By playing exd5, Black restores central parity and forces White's light-squared bishop to resolve the tension on the c4 square.

Illustrative engine continuation

The primary engine line continues with exd5 Bb3 Nc6 d4 Na5 Ne2. Following the bishop retreat to b3, Black rapidly develops the queenside knight to c6, targeting White's central space and challenging the bishop pair with the subsequent maneuver toward a5.

Dubious alternatives

Other options concede a substantial positional plus to White. Both Nf6 (chosen in 0.2% of games, 17K recorded) and Ne7 allow White to liquidate the structure favorably, evaluated at +1.41 and +1.60 respectively. In both instances, White secures an edge via lines such as Nf6 dxe6 Bxe6 Bxe6 fxe6 Nf3 and Ne7 dxe6 Bxe6 Bxe6 fxe6 Nf3, leaving Black with compromised kingside pawn structure. The Queen move Qe7 similarly fails to equalize (+1.37 across 1.3K games), leading into Qe7 dxe6 Bxe6 Bxe6 Qxe6+ Qe2, while the bishop development Bc5 sits at +1.69 after Bc5 Qe2 Qe7 Nc3 Nf6 Nf3.