for Black · intermediate
Alekhine Defense
2/2
1.e4Nf6
A provocative hypermodern defense: Black attacks e4 immediately and invites White to chase the knight with pawns, leaving the advanced centre overextended. It is sharp and unbalancing.
Key ideas
- Provoke White's pawns forward (e5, d4, c4) to create targets
- Retreat the knight and later strike with ...d6, ...c5 or ...f6
- Undermine the big centre rather than contest it head-on
- Seek imbalanced positions where White's space can backfire
Live databaseLichess 1600–2000 · blitz + rapid
Alekhine Defense24.9M games · White to move
MoveWhite / draw / BlackPlayedGamesScore
54%13.5M49%
31%7.7M49%
0.5%129k45%
0.5%121k47%
0.4%109k44%
0.2%53k47%
Famous games in this line21k master games
Caruana, Fabiano (2835) – Carlsen, Magnus (2863)Carlsen, M. (2853) – Nakamura, Hi (2787)Aronian, Levon (2773) – Carlsen, Magnus (2863)Nakamura, Hikaru (2736) – Carlsen, Magnus (2863)Carlsen, M. (2832) – Firouzja, Alireza (2767)Fressinet, L. (2717) – Carlsen, M. (2881)Nakamura, Hi (2786) – Caruana, F. (2802)Giri, A. (2782) – Mamedyarov, S. (2801)Heroes of this opening Carlsen, Magnus · Nakamura, Hi
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From the archives
Alexander Alekhine played 1...Nf6 at Budapest in 1921 and made it his: invite White's pawns to chase the knight across the board, then treat the overextended centre as a target. The move had been analysed a century earlier; the name stuck to the only world champion to die while still holding the title.
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