Alekhine Defense: Exchange Variation, Voronezh Variation
1. e4 Nf6 2. e5 Nd5 3. d4 d6 4. c4 Nb6 5. exd6 cxd6 6. Nc3 g6 7. Be3 Bg7 8. Rc1 O-O 9. b3
The Alekhine Defense: Exchange Variation, Voronezh Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO B03, reached after 1. e4 Nf6 2. e5 Nd5 3. d4 d6 4. c4 Nb6 5. exd6 cxd6 6. Nc3 g6 7. Be3 Bg7 8. Rc1 O-O 9. b3. It is a line of the Alekhine Defense. Black is to move.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 84 times by this move order. White won 51%, 9% were drawn and Black won 40%. The most popular continuation is 9… Nc6 (52% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.38 (Stockfish, depth 38; best line 9… e5 10. Nf3 Nc6 11. Be2 d5 12. c5)
- ECO
- B03
- Moves
- 17 plies
- FEN
rnbq1rk1/pp2ppbp/1n1p2p1/8/2PP4/1PN1B3/P4PPP/2RQKBNR b K - 0 9- PGN
1. e4 Nf6 2. e5 Nd5 3. d4 d6 4. c4 Nb6 5. exd6 cxd6 6. Nc3 g6 7. Be3 Bg7 8. Rc1 O-O 9. b3
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 1500-1999 | 9 | |
| 2000+ | 75 | |
| All | 84 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 9… Nc6 | 44 (52%) | |
| 9… e5 | 19 (23%) | |
| 9… Bf5 | 9 (11%) | |
| 9… d5 | 5 (6%) | |
| 9… a5 | 4 (5%) | |
| 9… f5 | 1 (1%) | |
| 9… h6 | 1 (1%) | |
| 9… e6 | 1 (1%) |
Master games
843 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 45%, draw 21%, Black 34%). The strongest:
- GM Javokhir Sindarov (2682) – GM Yi Wei (2753) 0-1 · World Blitz 2024 · 2024-12-30
- GM Naroditsky, D. (2619) – GM Hikaru Nakamura (2787) 0-1 · Bullet Chess Winners 2023 · 2023-07-19
- GM Alireza Firouzja (2777) – GM Mikhail Demidov (2566) 1-0 · Titled Tue 1st Aug Late · 2023-08-01
- GM Jeffery Xiong (2618) – GM Gata Kamsky (2678) 1-0 · ch-USA 2016 · 2016-04-18
- GM Jun Zhao (2634) – GM Jianchao Zhou (2612) 1/2-1/2 · TCh-CHN 2016 · 2016-04-13
Highest-rated Lichess games
- Zalameroo (2615) – gammadrill (2566) 1/2-1/2 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
- extrabzh (2523) – IM Whynot72 (2518) 0-1 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
- Hippolytus (2528) – Tartiflette-Sauvage (2475) 1-0 · 2026-09-06 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Alekhine Defense: Exchange Variation 1. e4 Nf6 2. e5 Nd5 3. d4 d6 4. c4 Nb6 5. exd6
More Alekhine Defense lines (all)
- Alekhine Defense (1. e4 Nf6) B02
- Alekhine Defense: Brooklyn Variation B02
- Alekhine Defense: Brooklyn Variation, Everglades Variation B02
- Alekhine Defense: Buckley Attack B02
- Alekhine Defense: Hunt Variation, Lasker Simul Gambit B02
- Alekhine Defense: Hunt Variation, Matsukevich Gambit B02
- Alekhine Defense: Hunt Variation, Mikenas Gambit B02
- Alekhine Defense: Kmoch Variation B02
- Alekhine Defense: Krejcik Variation B02
- Alekhine Defense: Krejcik Variation, Krejcik Gambit B02
- Alekhine Defense: Maróczy Variation B02
- Alekhine Defense: Mokele Mbembe B02
Opening names and moves from the Lichess openings dataset; statistics from the Lichess open database, 2026-09 (CC0), sample of 12.6 million games, bots excluded; evaluations from Lichess cloud analysis (all CC0). Master games from The Week in Chess #920–#1664 by Mark Crowther, used with permission.