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| Moves | 1.e4 Nf6 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| ECO | B02–B05 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Origin | Alexander Alekhine, Budapest 1921 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Named after | Alexander Alekhine | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Parent | King's Pawn Game | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Alekhine's Defence is a chess opening that begins with the moves:
Black tempts White's pawns forward to form a broad pawn centre, with plans to undermine and attack the white structure later in the spirit of hypermodern defence. White's imposing mass of pawns in the centre often includes pawns on c4, d4, e5, and f4. Grandmaster (GM) Nick de Firmian observes of Alekhine's Defence in MCO-15 (2008), "The game immediately loses any sense of symmetry or balance, which makes the opening a good choice for aggressive fighting players."[1]
The Encyclopaedia of Chess Openings has four codes for Alekhine's Defence, B02 through B05:
- B02: 1.e4 Nf6
- B03: 1.e4 Nf6 2.e5 Nd5 3.d4 (including 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)
- ^ Nick de Firmian, Modern Chess Openings, Fifteenth Edition, 2008, p. 159. ISBN 978-0-8129-3682-7.