Tree path 4 levels King's Pawn Game › Alekhine Defense › Normal Variation › Alekhine Defense
B03

Alekhine Defense

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Overview

Alekhine Defense is a variation within the Semi-Open Games family, indexed as ECO B03.

The Semi-Open Games group covers semi-open games — replies to 1.e4 where Black declines the symmetrical 1…e5 in favour of an asymmetric pawn structure.

It is reached after 5 plies of play, with the move sequence 1. e4 Nf6 2. e5 Nd5 3. d4.

It is a variation of Alekhine Defense: Normal Variation, which itself descends from the root opening King's Pawn Game.

It branches into 2 notable variations — Alekhine Defense, O'Sullivan Gambit.

In total, the branch covers 28 sub-variations across all depths.

Step through the moves on the interactive board below, review the live Lichess statistics, or play this position against Stockfish at one of six difficulty levels.

ECO code
B03
Group
Semi-Open Games (B)
Plies
5
Parent
Alekhine Defense: Normal Variation
Direct variations
2
Total in subtree
28

This overview is generated automatically from the opening's metadata. A more detailed, human-written description is on the way — and you can speed it up by suggesting one yourself.

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Variations (2)

Show all 28 sub-variations (full subtree)