The Alekhine Defense is 1.e4 Nf6, and after 2.e5 Nd5 3.d4 d6 Black has deliberately let White build a big pawn centre in the hope of proving it overextended. Guides list the named lines (Four Pawns, Exchange, Modern, Chase) and move on. They rarely tell you which of those lines people actually reach, or which Black moves they choose along the way. We ran the maia3-5m checkpoint, see how Maia chess actually works, on two positions in the opening at seven rating bands from 1000 to 2200, the same method behind our chess openings by rating dataset, and graded every reply with Stockfish 18, see what the Stockfish chess engine is. The result is one clean surprise: in the Modern Variation, the engine's top move becomes less popular as players improve. Maia3 predicts what a player at a given rating is likely to choose. It is not a count of real games.
One convention before the numbers. Every evaluation on this page is from White's side, so +0.86 means White is better by 0.86 of a pawn. Our tables use Stockfish at depth 20. The named line checks use a separate local run at depth 22, so a position can differ by a few hundredths between the two.
Where the Alekhine came from
The Alekhine sits in ECO codes B02 to B05. Wikipedia says Alexander Alekhine introduced it at Budapest in 1921, in games against Endre Steiner and Fritz Saemisch. Wikipedia describes the idea as tempting White's pawns forward to form a broad centre, with plans to undermine and attack that structure later, in the spirit of hypermodern defence. Chess.com puts it as letting White establish a presence in the centre with the goal of proving it overextended.
On who plays it, Wikipedia names Fischer and Korchnoi as historic practitioners, Vassily Ivanchuk as a modern one and Magnus Carlsen as an occasional one, and says Carlsen used it to beat Veselin Topalov in 2008. We did not verify the venue or the move list of that game, so we cite the claim and nothing more. De Firmian is quoted as saying the opening immediately loses any sense of symmetry or balance, which makes it a good choice for aggressive fighting players.
How good is it by the engine
Stockfish 18 at depth 22 scores the position after 1.e4 Nf6 at +0.56 for White, with 2.e5 as the engine's pick. After 2.e5 Nd5 3.d4 d6 it scores +0.82 and prefers 4.c4. That is a modest White edge, a bit more than half a pawn, and it is the price of the hypermodern approach.
The public win rates are less clear than they look. As of October 2026, 365chess lists 42,165 Alekhine games with White at 37.8 percent, draws at 29.1 and Black at 33.1, a White edge of 4.7 points. It does not state the database or rating band. As of October 2026, chess.com says it is Black's eighth most popular reply to 1.e4 and scores about as well as the French and the Pirc, again without a stated pool. Neither number tells you what happens at 1200. Forum opinion runs from "flawed on so many levels" to "better than its reputation". The engine and the win rates agree on one thing: Black gives up some space and gets a playable game for it.
Black's third move: 3...d6 is not automatic
After 1.e4 Nf6 2.e5 Nd5 3.d4, Black has to decide how to challenge the centre. Stockfish ranks 3...d6 first at +0.86. It then gives 3...c6 at +0.92 and 3...Nb6 at +0.94. The popular alternatives are worse: 3...g6 is +1.12, 3...e6 is +1.15 and 3...Nc6 is +2.11, the worst of the common replies by a wide margin. Here is how often Maia3 predicts the main moves.
| Rating | 1000 | 1200 | 1400 | 1600 | 1800 | 2000 | 2200 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3...d6 (best, +0.86) | 28.9% | 35.7% | 45.3% | 57.2% | 68.6% | 76.8% | 83.0% |
| 3...e6 (+1.15) | 30.9% | 30.4% | 26.5% | 19.3% | 11.5% | 5.9% | 2.9% |
| 3...Nc6 (+2.11) | 16.6% | 13.1% | 9.1% | 5.5% | 2.7% | out | out |
| 3...Nb6 (+0.94) | out | out | 4.4% | 5.9% | 7.3% | 8.1% | 7.6% |
In the table, "out" means the move was outside Maia's top five at that band. It does not mean zero probability. At 1000 the likeliest move is 3...e6 at 30.9 percent, narrowly ahead of 3...d6 at 28.9. From 1200 up, 3...d6 leads at every band and climbs to 83.0 percent at 2200. A 1000 rated player is therefore close to a three way split between a sensible move, a passive one and a bad one.
3...Nc6 is the interesting failure. It develops a piece and attacks d4, so it looks natural, but the engine scores the position at +2.11 for White, more than two pawns. It is 16.6 percent at 1000 and fades to 2.7 percent at 1800. If you play the Alekhine below 1400, 3...d6 is the move to learn first because it avoids both the passive and the losing replies.
The Modern Variation: the engine's best move becomes less popular
As of October 2026, Wikipedia calls the Modern Variation, 3...d6 4.Nf3, the most common variation, and chess.com says it is White's most popular choice. In the model's own continuation at a 1400 reference rating, 4.Nf3 is the likeliest White fourth move at 28.8 percent. That is why we measured it. After 4.Nf3, Stockfish's order of Black's options is 4...dxe5 at +0.62, 4...c6 at +0.76, 4...Bf5 at +0.78, 4...g6 at +0.84 and 4...Bg4 at +0.87.
| Rating | 1000 | 1200 | 1400 | 1600 | 1800 | 2000 | 2200 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4...dxe5 (best, +0.62) | 44.4% | 41.2% | 37.3% | 32.8% | 26.4% | 19.0% | 15.4% |
| 4...Bg4 (+0.87) | 15.8% | 21.2% | 27.0% | 32.7% | 38.0% | 42.4% | 43.9% |
| 4...Nc6 (+0.95) | 16.0% | 17.1% | 16.9% | 15.8% | 13.9% | 10.9% | 7.7% |
| 4...g6 (+0.84) | 4.6% | 4.9% | 5.4% | 6.8% | 10.5% | 17.1% | 23.9% |
Read the first two rows against each other. 4...dxe5, the engine's choice, is the likeliest move from 1000 to 1600, though at 1600 it leads 4...Bg4 by a tenth of a point, 32.8 to 32.7. Then the lead flips. At 1800, 2000 and 2200 the likeliest move is 4...Bg4, at 38.0, 42.4 and 43.9 percent, while 4...dxe5 drops to 26.4, 19.0 and 15.4. 4...g6 also rises, from 4.6 percent at 1000 to 23.9 at 2200, and by 2200 it is more popular than the engine's top move.
Be careful what this means. The gap between 4...dxe5 and 4...Bg4 is 25 centipawns, a quarter of a pawn. That is small. 4...Bg4 is a long established theory move and is fully respectable, and the same goes for 4...g6, which is only 0.22 worse than the engine's choice. Stronger players are not making an error. They are choosing the main theory line over the engine's slightly better one, and the data does not tell us why. One more detail: our depth 22 check scores 4...dxe5 5.Nxe5 at +0.60, with 5...g6 as Black's best reply, so the engine's choice holds up at a deeper search.
Below 1400, the data points the other way. A 1000 rated player is likelier to take on e5 than to play the Bishop move, and that is the engine's choice. If you are learning the Alekhine, 4...dxe5 is a sound first habit, and you can switch to 4...Bg4 later when you want the theory.
The named lines, with engine numbers
Move orders follow Wikipedia and chess.com. Every score below is from our local Stockfish 18 run at depth 22, from White's side.
The Four Pawns Attack is 3.d4 d6 4.c4 Nb6 5.f4. Note that 3.c4 is a different line, the Chase below. After 5.f4 the position is +0.80, with 5...Bf5 as the engine's pick. The main try, 5...dxe5 6.fxe5 Nc6, is +0.87, with 7.Be3 the best move for White. Chess.com calls the Four Pawns White's most confrontational response, and one forum player writes that it is "overly ambitious on white's part". Our numbers say it is a real edge of about a pawn at the sharpest point, not a refutation, so both views have something to them.
The Exchange Variation is 3.d4 d6 4.c4 Nb6 5.exd6. Black can recapture 5...exd6, giving a symmetrical structure, or 5...cxd6, keeping a more asymmetrical one. Wikipedia says White accepts a more modest spatial advantage here. The engine agrees with the symmetrical choice: 5...exd6 is +0.68 and 5...cxd6 is +0.88, a gap of 20 centipawns in favour of the symmetrical recapture. The Voronezh Variation sits inside the cxd6 branch, with 6.Nc3 g6 7.Be3 Bg7 8.Rc1 O-O 9.b3. We did not run that full line.
The main Modern line is 4.Nf3 Bg4 5.Be2 e6 6.O-O Be7 7.c4 Nb6, a path given by a secondary source. The position before White's eighth move scores +1.01, with 8.h3 as the engine's pick. That is a solid White edge, a little over a pawn.
The Chase or Two Pawns Attack is 3.c4 Nb6 4.c5, and Wikipedia says White's pawn advances have severely weakened d5. A secondary source continues 4...Nd5 5.Bc4 e6, and our check agrees the position is calm: +0.13 after 5.Bc4 and +0.18 after 5...e6, with 6.d4 as White's best.
The Maroczy Variation, 2.d3, is called passive, and chess.com says it scores poorly. We did not run a check on it.
Second move choices: Scandinavian and Brooklyn
The Alekhine has a few relatives that begin before move three. White can play 2.Nc3, and Black's independent answer 2...d5 is called the Scandinavian Variation by Wikipedia. Our check scores 2.Nc3 d5 at +0.44, with 3.e5 as the engine's pick. That is lower than the +0.82 of the main line, so the move is respectable for Black. If it is what you want, our Scandinavian Defense page covers 1...d5, which can transpose after 2.Nc3 d5 3.exd5 Nxd5.
The other offbeat reply is the Brooklyn Variation, 1.e4 Nf6 2.e5 Ng8. Wikipedia says GM Joel Benjamin named it for his hometown and that White has only a small advantage according to theory. Chess.com calls it too provocative to be recommended. Our depth 22 check scores it +1.01, with 3.d4 as White's reply. That is much more than +0.82 for the main line, so the engine sides with chess.com. A forum player reports excellent results with it, all in blitz.
Traps and what we left out
You will see Alekhine pages offering a quick queen trap. One source claims such a trap in the Chase line, but when we checked the move order for legality, the capture it relies on was not available to Black in that position, so we left it out. We found no other sourced trap with a verified move list for this opening, and we are not presenting one. The practical lesson from the data is simpler: the cheapest way to lose quickly in the Alekhine is 3...Nc6, because the +2.11 score means White does not need a trap.
Should you play it
Beginner advice splits in an unusual way, because the same facts are framed in opposite ways. Search summaries of beginner guides say it is unsuitable for beginners because after five moves Black has often moved the same knight three times and conceded the centre, which breaks the usual rules of opening play. Others call it instructive, and one forum poster says it is a great opening to work through with a friend. Winnie_Pooh's view is more cautious: the opening is double edged and tricky, and needs a lot of theoretical knowledge.
Our data supports a middle path. The first two decision points already separate players. Below 1400 the risk is playing 3...e6 or 3...Nc6, which the engine dislikes by 0.29 and 1.25 pawns respectively. If you want a defence to 1.e4 with less to memorise, the Caro-Kann Defense page is the steadier choice, and why you should stop memorizing openings and learn plans covers how to build habits instead of lines.
For White, the rest of this page gives you the shape of the opening. Four Pawns and Exchange are both worth knowing, and the Modern 4.Nf3 is the line you will likeliest meet at club level. Prepare 4...dxe5 and 4...Bg4 first, since together they make up between 59.3 and 65.5 percent of predicted replies at every band.
Where other pages are better
This page is narrow on purpose. The dataset holds only two positions: the one after 3.d4, and the one after 3...d6 4.Nf3. We do not measure how often players reach the Four Pawns, the Exchange or the Chase, because those lines branch from 4.c4 and 3.c4, which we did not sample, and we have no game results by rating. We also do not measure anything past move four. The Lichess explorer, which would give rating filtered results, was not available to us, so every win rate here is from chess.com and 365chess with no stated pool. Wikipedia is the better reference for the history and the full list of named variations, and chess.com and 365chess are better for browsing lines. None of the pages we opened splits Black's replies by rating, which is the gap this page fills, and none showed an engine score for each choice.
What to take from it
The Alekhine is sound, with Stockfish giving White between +0.56 and +0.82 in the early main lines, and the data shows how the first two decisions change with rating. 3...d6 rises from 28.9 percent at 1000 to 83.0 at 2200, and 3...Nc6, the engine's worst common reply, is a real hazard below 1400. After 4.Nf3, the engine's 4...dxe5 is the likeliest human move up to 1600, then gives way to 4...Bg4 for players of 1800 and up, a gap of only 25 centipawns, so it reflects theory more than error. Maia3 is a model of human choice built from the maia3-5m checkpoint, not a count of real games, and every percentage above should be read that way.
Frequently asked
- Is the Alekhine Defense good?
- It is sound but double edged. Stockfish 18 at depth 22 scores the position after 1.e4 Nf6 at +0.56 for White and the main line after 3.d4 d6 at +0.82, a clear but modest edge. As of October 2026, 365chess lists 42,165 games with White 37.8 percent, draws 29.1 and Black 33.1, without stating the pool or rating band.
- Is the Alekhine Defense good for beginners?
- Opinions split. Beginner guides say Black moves the same knight several times and gives up the centre. Supporters call it instructive to work through. In our data, 1000 rated players are as likely to play 3...e6 (30.9 percent) as the main move 3...d6 (28.9 percent), so many beginners leave the main line immediately.
- What is the Four Pawns Attack in the Alekhine Defense?
- It is 1.e4 Nf6 2.e5 Nd5 3.d4 d6 4.c4 Nb6 5.f4, where White builds pawns on c4, d4, e5 and f4. Stockfish scores the position after 5.f4 at +0.80 for White, with 5...Bf5 as Black's best reply. Chess.com calls it White's most confrontational response but says Black has enough counterplay.
- What does Black play after 4.Nf3 in the Alekhine?
- Stockfish's best is 4...dxe5 (+0.62), and Maia3 predicts it as the likeliest move from 1000 to 1600. From 1800 up the likeliest move is 4...Bg4 (+0.87), at 38.0, 42.4 and 43.9 percent for 1800, 2000 and 2200. These are model predictions of human play, not game counts.
- What is the Brooklyn Variation?
- It is 1.e4 Nf6 2.e5 Ng8, retreating the knight at once. GM Joel Benjamin named it for his hometown. Wikipedia says theory gives White only a small advantage, but our depth 22 check scores it +1.01, well above the main line, so it is risky.
Want to see what your own rating answers 3.d4 with?
Chessdrive runs the real maia3-5m checkpoint on-device as your opponent at any rating you set from 600 to 2600, so you can play the Alekhine against a model that replies the way your band actually does, then see where the game turned with a separate Stockfish review. Available now on iOS.
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