Chess Opening Theory/1. e4/1...Nf6

Alekhine's Defence
a b c d e f g h 8 8 7 7 6 6 5 5 4 4 3 3 2 2 1 1 a b c d e f g h
Position in Forsyth-Edwards Notation (FEN) rnbqkb1r/pppppppp/5n2/8/4P3/8/PPPP1PPP/RNBQKBNR w
Moves: 1. e4 Nf6
ECO code: B02-B05
Parent: King's Pawn Opening

Alekhine's Defence

1...Nf6

The main idea of the Alekhine is to allow White to advance and push pawns, which Black can pick at later. While it is not played very often at master level, it is not unsound. White's most popular continuation is 2. e5, and White has dreams of advancing in the center with d4, later c4, and sometimes even f4. Black hopes to attack and destroy White's pawn center in the future.

If White doesn't want to follow the main line, they may simply defend the pawn with 2. Nc3 (which may transpose to Vienna Game).

A sharp variation called the Krejcik Variation consists in playing 2. Bc4. It looks like a gambit, but in fact, if Black plays 2...Nxe4, White can regain the pawn and prevent Black from castling with 3. Bxf7+ Kxf7 4. Qh5+.

The opening is named after Alexander Alekhine, who introduced it in 1921; however, the theory and mainlines were created much later.

Theory table

For explanation of theory tables, see theory table and for notation, see algebraic notation.

1.e4 Nf6

	2	3	4	5	6
Main Line	e5 Nd5	d4 d6	Nf3 Bg4	Be2 e6	O-O Be7	∞/=
	Nc3 d5	exd5 Nxd5	Bc4 Nb6	Bb3 Nc6	Nf3 Bf5	=
	d3 e5	Nf3 Nc6	g3 Bc5	Bg2 O-O	O-O d6	=
	... ...	f4 Nc6	Nf3 d5	fxe5 dxe4	exf6 exf3	=/+
Krejcik Variation	Bc4 Nxe4	Bxf7+ Kxf7	Qh5+ Kg8	Qd5+ e6	Qxe4 d5	=+
	... ...	... ...	... g6	Qd5+ e6	Qxe4 d5	=+
	... ...	... ...	... ...	... Ke8	Qxe4 d5	=+

References

• Nunn's Chess Openings. 1999. John Nunn (Editor), Graham Burgess, John Emms, Joe Gallagher. ISBN 1-8574-4221-0.

• Modern Chess Openings: MCO-14. 1999. Nick de Firmian, Walter Korn. ISBN 0-8129-3084-3.

• Kasparov, Garry, & Keene, Raymond 1989 Batsford chess openings 2. ISBN 0-8050-3409-9.