Alekhine's Defence

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Alekhine's Defence
Moves	1.e4 Nf6
ECO	B02-B05
Origin	Alexander Alekhine, Budapest, 1921
Named after	Alexander Alekhine
Parent	King's Pawn Game
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This article uses algebraic notation to describe chess moves.

Alekhine's Defence is a chess opening beginning with the moves

1. e4 Nf6

Alekhine's Defence is named after Alexander Alekhine who first used it in two games in the 1921 Budapest tournament, one against Endre Steiner^[1] and the other against Fritz Sämisch^[2]. Another early exponent of the defence was Ernst Grünfeld. Its popularity waxes and wanes, and currently is not very common. Its current highest rated proponent is Grandmaster Vassily Ivanchuk, although Grandmaster Lev Alburt has done much to promote it. The opening is considered hypermodern because Black provokes White to attack Black's knight and occupy the centre with his pawns, hoping to prove that White's imposing mass of pawns in the centre (which often includes pawns on c4, d4, e5, and f4) is in fact weak.

Contents 1 Main Variations 1.1 Four Pawns Attack 1.2 Exchange Variation 1.3 Modern Variation 1.4 Two Pawns Attack 1.5 Two Knights Variation 1.6 Other lines 2 Other variations named after Alekhine 3 Encyclopaedia of Chess Openings 4 References 5 External links

[edit] Main Variations

Three main variations of Alekhine's Defence use 3. d4, but there are other options for White at this point. Two of the most common versions are the Exchange variation and the Four Pawns Attack. The Exchange Variation continues 3...d6 4.c4 Nb6 exd6. White has some space advantage. Black can capitalize on the half-open centre with ...g6, ...Bg7 with ...Bg4 eventually being played. The Four Pawns Attack continues 3...d6 4.c4 Nb6 5.f4. White has a somewhat larger space advantage though the centre is not fixed. Black has a number of options. Black can play ...Qd7 with ...0-0-0 and ...f6 putting pressure on White's d pawn. Black can play ...Nb4 with ...c5 hoping to exchange the d pawn. Finally, Black can play ...Be7 with ...0-0 and ...f6 attacking the centre. Minor variations include O'Sullivan's Gambit: 3...b5 and 3...d6 4.Bc4, Balogh Variation, usually combined with a kingside fianchetto.

[edit] Four Pawns Attack

1.e4 Nf6

2.e5 Nd5

3.d4 d6

4.c4 Nb6

5.f4

The Four Pawns Attack is White's most ambitious try, and the variation which perhaps illustrates the basic idea of the defence best: Black will allow White to make several tempo-gaining attacks on the knight and to erect an apparently imposing pawn centre in the belief that it can later be destroyed. The game can become very sharp since White must either secure his advantage in space or make use of it before Black succeeds in making a successful strike at it. Black must also play vigorously because passive play will be crushed by the White centre. The Four Pawns Attack is not particularly popular, not because it is weak, but because many White players are wary of entering a sharp tactical line which Black may have prepared. The main line continues 5...dxe5 6.fxe5 Nc6 7.Be3 Bf5 8.Nc3 e6 9.Nf3. However, an alternative line, the Planinc Variation, sees Black continue 5. ...g5!?, aiming to completely undermine the White centre by means of provoking 6. fxg5? dxe5 leaving White with problems. The line is named after grandmaster Albin Planinc, who championed it in the 1970s. It was then taken up in the 1990s by correspondence player Michael Schirmer, whose games were noted in a recent book on Alekhine's Defence by notable British GM and Alekhine exponent Nigel Davies.

[edit] Exchange Variation

1.e4 Nf6

2.e5 Nd5

3.d4 d6

4.c4 Nb6

5.exd6

The Exchange variation is less ambitious than the Four Pawns Attack. White trades pawns, accepting a more modest spatial advantage. Black's main decision is whether to recapture with the solid 5...exd6, which will lead to a fairly strategic position, or the more ambitious 5...cxd6 when Black has a preponderance of pawns in the centre.

[edit] Modern Variation

1.e4 Nf6

2.e5 Nd5

3.d4 d6

4.Nf3

The Modern Variation is the most common variation of the Alekhine Defence. As in the Exchange Variation, White accepts a more modest spatial advantage, and hopes to be able to hang on to it. There are a number of possible Black responses:

• 4...Bg4, pinning the knight is the most common response, and White usually follows up with 5.Be2. Black will often voluntarily surrender the bishop pair by ...Bxf3 because the white knight is a fairly strong piece, and capturing it undermines the white centre pawns. Champions of this opening include Lev Alburt, Vlatko Kovačević and Vladimir Bagirov.
• 4...g6, preparing to fianchetto a bishop in the fight over the centre is also a common response. This variation was played in the thirteenth game of the Match of the Century between Boris Spassky and Bobby Fischer. (The nineteenth game of the same match featured the more common 4...Bg4.) Lev Alburt has played this line frequently. White's reply 5.Bc4, the Keres Variation.
• 4...dxe5 (the Larsen Variation) is another possibility which can lead to the sharp sacrificial line 5.Nxe5 Nd7 6.Nxf7!?. Bent Larsen used it in games with Mikhail Tal and Bobby Fischer.
• 4...c6 is along the lines of the Hedgehog Defence creating a position which is difficult to attack.

In most variations, Black can play ...Bg4 to transpose into the 4... Bg4 line.

[edit] Two Pawns Attack

1.e4 Nf6

2.e5 Nd5

3.c4 Nb6

4.c5

The Two Pawns Attack (also known as the Lasker Attack or the Chase System), is also an ambitious try. White's pawns on c5 and e5 secure a spatial advantage, but the d5 square has been weakened. Unlike the Four Pawns Attack, the White centre is not as fluid and the game takes on a more strategic character.

[edit] Two Knights Variation

1.e4 Nf6

2.e5 Nd5

3.Nc3

The Two Knights Variation is a variation where White immediately accepts doubled pawns after 3...Nxc3 (3...e6 is also possible) 4.dxc3 in exchange for rapid piece development. Even though the response 3...Nxc3 seems reasonable, it often leads to lines that resemble the French Defence where white's doubled pawns do not cause him much trouble. Still, this variation is one of the most passive ways to meet Alekhine's Defence.

[edit] Other lines

White can defend the e-pawn instead of playing 2.e5:

• 2.Nc3 is a common move, often played by amateurs and those wishing to avoid the lines of 2. e5. Black can play 2...e5, transposing to the Vienna Game; 2...d6 with a likely transposition to the Pirc Defence; or the more ambitious 2...d5, known as the Scandinavian Variation. White usually meets 2...d5 with 3.e5 ( The line 3. exd5 Nxd5 4. Bc4 is considered equal), when Black can choose between 3...d4, 3...Nfd7 (transposing to the Steinitz variation of the French Defence after 4.d4 e6, but 4.e6!? is a sharp alternative), 3...Ne4!?, and even 3...Ng8.
• 2.d3 ( the Maroczy Variation) is less common. Although not losing, this move blocks in White's light-squared bishop, so the variation is considered somewhat passive. If White fianchettoes that bishop, transposition to a King's Indian Attack is likely.

[edit] Other variations named after Alekhine

A dangerous gambit arises after 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bg5 Be7 5.e5 Nfd7 6.h4. White makes it unattractive for Black to castle kingside and hopes to blow him/her away in the centre. It is quite popular, though not at the highest level.

Somewhat offbeat is the Alekhine Variation of the Dutch: 1.d4 f5 2.g3 Nf6 3.Bg2 e6 4.Nf3 Be7 5.0-0 0-0 6.c4 Ne4.

[edit] Encyclopaedia of Chess Openings

The Encyclopaedia of Chess Openings has four codes for the Alekhine Defence, B02 through B05.

• B02: 1.e4 Nf6
• B03: 1.e4 Nf6 2.e5 Nd5 3.d4 (this includes the Exchange Variation and Four Pawns Attack)
• B04: 1.e4 Nf6 2.e5 Nd5 3.d4 d6 4.Nf3 (Modern Variation without 4...Bg4)
• B05: 1.e4 Nf6 2.e5 Nd5 3.d4 d6 4.Nf3 Bg4 (Modern Variation with 4...Bg4)

[edit] References

1. ^ Endre Steiner vs Alexander Alekhine at ChessGames.com
2. ^ Friedrich Samisch vs Alexander Alekhine at ChessGames.com

• Walter Korn and Nick de Firmian (1990). Modern Chess Openings. McKay. ISBN 0-8129-1730-8. 
• Andrew Martin (2001). Alekhine's Defence. Everyman Chess. ISBN 1857442539. 

[edit] External links

• Alekhine Game of the Week