Alekhine Defense: Four Pawns Attack, Ilyin-Zhenevsky Variation
1. e4 Nf6 2. e5 Nd5 3. d4 d6 4. c4 Nb6 5. f4 dxe5 6. fxe5 Nc6 7. Nf3 Bg4 8. e6 fxe6 9. c5
The Alekhine Defense: Four Pawns Attack, Ilyin-Zhenevsky Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO B03, reached after 1. e4 Nf6 2. e5 Nd5 3. d4 d6 4. c4 Nb6 5. f4 dxe5 6. fxe5 Nc6 7. Nf3 Bg4 8. e6 fxe6 9. c5. 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 4 times by this move order. White won 50%, 25% were drawn and Black won 25%. The most popular continuation is 9… Nd5 (75% of games).
Engine evaluation: −0.28 (Stockfish, depth 30; best line 9… Nd5 10. Bb5 Qd7 11. Nbd2 g6 12. h3)
- ECO
- B03
- Moves
- 17 plies
- FEN
r2qkb1r/ppp1p1pp/1nn1p3/2P5/3P2b1/5N2/PP4PP/RNBQKB1R b KQkq - 0 9- PGN
1. e4 Nf6 2. e5 Nd5 3. d4 d6 4. c4 Nb6 5. f4 dxe5 6. fxe5 Nc6 7. Nf3 Bg4 8. e6 fxe6 9. c5
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 1500-1999 | 2 | |
| 2000+ | 2 | |
| All | 4 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 9… Nd5 | 3 (75%) | |
| 9… Bxf3 | 1 (25%) |
Highest-rated Lichess games
- omivan (2188) – geminisuite (2183) 1/2-1/2 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 2s
- omivan (2191) – Drentenaar_74 (2177) 1-0 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 2s
- furrychesstoilet (1849) – PonyAndPawnLove (1927) 0-1 · 2026-09-06 · 180 + 2s
Comes from
Alekhine Defense: Four Pawns Attack 1. e4 Nf6 2. e5 Nd5 3. d4 d6 4. c4 Nb6 5. f4
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.