Openings · B02–B05

Alekhine's Defence

Invite the pawns forward and then show that they are weak: the most provocative first move Black has.

1.e4 Nf6played as Black

The idea

1…Nf6 attacks e4 and asks White to chase the knight with e5, c4 and d4. Black loses time doing it, and gets a target: a big pawn centre that cannot be defended by pawns alone, undermined later by …d6, …c5 and …f6.

It is a strategy, not a trick, and it demands that Black actually attack the centre. Played passively it is simply a knight that has moved four times while White built the position he wanted.

Practise the line

You play Black; the other side answers on its own. Nothing here is saved or graded.

Your move 1 of 10/1

1.e4Nf6

White is answering…

Common mistakes

Three that come up again and again below master level. Each is ordinary opening theory — a named trap, or the error every coach corrects — not a statistic, and not drawn from anybody's games.

Trading the knight on c3

1.e4 Nf6 2.e5 Nd5 3.Nc3 Nxc3 4.dxc3

The mistake: Exchanging on c3 when White offers it.
Why it costs: White recaptures towards the centre and gets an extra tempo, open lines and the two bishops, while Black has given up the piece that was doing the provoking. The knight on d5 is the whole defence — it is not there to be traded for a developing move.
Instead: 3…Nb6, or 3…e6 keeping the knight where it stands. If White wants that knight he should have to spend moves on it.

Leaving the pawn on e5

1.e4 Nf6 2.e5 Nd5 3.d4 d6 4.c4 Nb6 5.f4 Bf5 6.Nc3

The mistake: Developing the bishop before taking on e5 in the Four Pawns Attack.
Why it costs: The pawn on e5 is White's whole space advantage, and every move it survives, White gets to add another: Nf3, Be3, and eventually g4 hitting the bishop that came out early. Black's position gets smaller by one square a move.
Instead: 5…dxe5 first, and only then develop. The exchange on e5 is the concession Black's whole opening is designed to force.

Moving the knight a fourth time

1.e4 Nf6 2.e5 Ne4 3.d3

The mistake: Jumping to e4 rather than retreating to d5.
Why it costs: 3.d3 kicks it again and the knight has spent three moves to reach a square it must leave. Black is four tempi behind before a single piece has been developed, which is more provocation than the position can pay for.
Instead: 2…Nd5, the only move played by anyone who wins with this opening. From d5 the knight is annoying; from e4 it is simply lost time.

Try it on one of your own

The board above is for the line itself; this is for a game you played. Paste a game in this opening, or pull one from chess.com, and every move is graded against what the engine would have played. Open the board, read how the grading works, or go back to the other openings.