4 ms·

I think maybe you misunderstood their methods? They explicitly discuss the most obvious "novel" openings that wouldn't transpose to traditional openings, like 1

• mtlmtlmtlmtl 5y ago
  Note: after 1. e4 d5/dxe4 2. Nc3/Nxe4 Qd5, White's only option to maintain an advantage is to play 3. Nc3, transposing into a mainline Scandinavian. On the other hand, 2. ... BF5 3. Ng3 Bg6 effectively gives black a Caro Kann two knights variation(1. e4 c6 2. Nc3 d5 3. Nf3 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Bf5 5. Ng3 Bg6), but with the moves c6 and Nf3 omitted. This helps black more than white, since c6 hampers the development of Black's knight. As white, I would probably attempt something like 1. e4 d5/dxe4 2. c4/f3, sacrificing a pawn for development and hoping to play d4 to get a big centre(e.g 1. e4 d5/dxe4 2. c4/f3 exf3 3. Nxf3 Bg4 4. d4 Nc6 5. d5 Ne5 6. Be2 Nxf3+ 7. Bxf3 Bxf3 8. Qxf3 Nf6 9. 0-0 when white has a lead in development, central control and pressure along the f file for the small price of one pawn(though I'm sure black has a better line than this)). 2. d4/d5 might also be interesting, depending on whether en passant is legal afterwards :P Because I find the mainline Scandi to be dreadfully boring, I've been experimenting with playing 2. Nc3 with white. The tempting 2. ... d4 equalises but leads to a more complex game, with white's night rerouting to g3. Black's will often seize the centre with e5 and c5, but white gets attacking chances with Nf5 ideas as well as playing for the f4 break. The frustrating downside is that black can just play 2. ... dxe4 and force me to pick between the scandi I'm trying to avoid and a Caro Kann where black has already equalised...