Alekhine Defense: Kmoch Variation
1. e4 Nf6 2. e5 Nd5 3. Bc4 Nb6 4. Bb3 c5 5. d3
The Alekhine Defense: Kmoch Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO B02, reached after 1. e4 Nf6 2. e5 Nd5 3. Bc4 Nb6 4. Bb3 c5 5. d3. 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 96 times by this move order. White won 44%, 9% were drawn and Black won 47%. The most popular continuation is 5… Nc6 (42% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.13 (Stockfish, depth 42; best line 5… Nc6 6. Nf3 d6 7. exd6 exd6 8. O-O)
- ECO
- B02
- Moves
- 9 plies
- FEN
rnbqkb1r/pp1ppppp/1n6/2p1P3/8/1B1P4/PPP2PPP/RNBQK1NR b KQkq - 0 5- PGN
1. e4 Nf6 2. e5 Nd5 3. Bc4 Nb6 4. Bb3 c5 5. d3
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 7 | |
| 1500-1999 | 66 | |
| 2000+ | 23 | |
| All | 96 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 5… Nc6 | 40 (42%) | |
| 5… d5 | 32 (33%) | |
| 5… e6 | 8 (8%) | |
| 5… a5 | 7 (7%) | |
| 5… d6 | 6 (6%) | |
| 5… g6 | 2 (2%) | |
| 5… Qc7 | 1 (1%) |
Master games
19 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 47%, draw 6%, Black 47%). The strongest:
- IM Lawrence Trent (2401) – GM Alexandr Fier (2563) 1-0 · Titled Tuesday 5th Oct · 2021-10-05
- GM Etienne Bacrot (2653) – FM Viktor Shapiro (2192) 1-0 · Titled Tue 31st Jan Late · 2023-01-31
- IM Jerzy Slaby (2464) – FM Dirk Paulsen (2317) 1-0 · Titled Tue 31st Dec Late · 2024-12-31
- IM Lawrence Trent (2399) – FM Sandi Stojanovski (2232) 1-0 · Titled Tuesday 18th May · 2021-05-18
- FM Jorge Soto Vega (2353) – CM Jesper Kjaergaard-Jensen (2081) 0-1 · Titled Tue 12th Nov Late · 2024-11-12
Search all games of the Alekhine Defense: Kmoch Variation and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- Expectopatronum123 (2479) – Aynar2026 (2315) 0-1 · 2026-09-03 · 300 + 0s
- TUZ7 (2397) – VGZChess (2309) 1-0 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
- taras05 (2352) – HUB18 (2332) 1/2-1/2 · 2026-09-06 · 300 + 0s
Comes from
Alekhine Defense: Normal Variation 1. e4 Nf6 2. e5 Nd5
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: Krejcik Variation B02
- Alekhine Defense: Krejcik Variation, Krejcik Gambit B02
- Alekhine Defense: Maróczy Variation B02
- Alekhine Defense: Mokele Mbembe B02
- Alekhine Defense: Mokele Mbembe, Modern Line 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.