Scandinavian Defense: Blackburne-Kloosterboer Gambit: what should White play?

In the Scandinavian Defense: Blackburne-Kloosterboer Gambit, White's strongest theoretical choice is cxd5, resolving the central tension immediately while securing an engine evaluation of +0.12. By capturing the d5 pawn, White challenges Black to invest time in regaining central footing, leading to a 54.3% score across more than 1.12 million recorded games.

The Primary Continuations: cxd5 and d4

Capturing with cxd5 represents the overwhelming consensus among practitioners, appearing in 72.8% of the 1,532,991 games recorded in the database. An illustrative engine line following the capture runs cxd5 Nf6 Nc3 Nxd5 Nf3 Nc6, where White steadily develops pieces to defend the central sector. The primary alternative is d4, selected in 25.1% of recorded encounters (385K games), which yields an evaluation of +0.11 and a 53.4% score for White. Play often continues symmetrically in this branch via d4 Nf6 Nc3 Nc6 Bg5 e6, establishing a firm pawn center rather than immediately exchanging on d5.

Less Effective Deviations

Passive setups forfeit White's opening initiative and shift the theoretical assessment in Black's favor. For instance, developing the knight with Nf3 drops the engine evaluation to -0.26 and is seen in only 1.7% of games (27K recorded), allowing Black space via Nf3 d4 d3 Nc6 g3 Nf6. Similarly, the pawn advance d3 scores only 43.4% across 5.2K games with an evaluation of -0.46, as illustrated in the line d3 dxc4 d4 Be6 Nf3 Nf6. The fianchetto attempt g3 occurs in fewer than 500 games and fares similarly poorly at -0.43, as shown in g3 dxc4 Bxc4 Nc6 Nc3 Nf6.