Learning the scandinavian

http://en.lichess.org/cLz8K9w1/black

I have a strong feeling that my opponent was cheating, but I am quite proud of the result. I feel like I made the correct moves until he started to attack my kingside. Do you chess mates (I hope thatll be accepted as a gender neutral term) got anything to note about this game? I would be glad to hear it :) I think the scandinavian makes for an interesting opening.

Besides, does anybody of ya afficionados have an opinion on 3 ...Qa5? To me it feels kind of safe, but after 4.b4 and 5.Rb1 things start to become blurry to me.

You castled Queenside, then took on c3 to open up the b-file which already had a rook in place! Suicidal!

I came to the same conclusion afterwards. I should've opened up the attack on the kingside. Especially because we castled on opposite sides am I right?

Down to style, I would have been playing e6, Nbd7, Be7 or Bd6 and then holding on castling - leaving option to castle either way.

nice game , one thing: with b7-b6 you open up his bishop, the position was holding before that.

No disrespect for 1200+ or 1300+ players but it feels like someone with 1300+ is playing TOO strong, too precise. some moves might be forced but never a slight imprecision?! in 25+ moves game? ... hmmm...would make me wonder...

#4 and #5 thanks for the help! I appreciate it :) I should play this opening more often.

#6 yeah he got flagged for using a computer assistence anyway :p so no worries about that. It felt very computery to play him.

i dont think anyone was cheating in this game, @OP, @jfialho.

The position in many parts of the game lacked potential dynamism until he found a plan and Black helped a little bit (I agree with #2 that 14.. Bxc3 was unprovoked. I add that this xchange made a plan easy to see by White).

17...b6 sorta amplified a plan like a4-a5 meanwhile Black didnt have play to counter-balance (by the time White played a5, centre is calm and the kingside preponderance is even calmer with ALL the Black f,g,h pawns still at home).

Still, I believe without 14...Bxc3, the graph woulda been as flat as a pancake if previous moves were anything to go by (and both players could be accused of cheating!).

I believe noone was cheating here, the White plan was just incredibly easy to excecute and realise after Black's 14th move.

and yes, the Scamdinavian is interesting, it can be as wild or as dull as you want it.

good luck in learning it.