Alekhine Defense: Krejcik Variation
1. e4 Nf6 2. Bc4
The Alekhine Defense: Krejcik Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO B02, reached after 1. e4 Nf6 2. Bc4. It is a line of the Alekhine Defense. Black is to move. 1 named line continues from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 3,563 times by this move order. White won 46%, 5% were drawn and Black won 49%. The most popular continuation is 2… Nxe4 (51% of games).
Engine evaluation: −0.84 (Stockfish, depth 40; best line 2… Nxe4 3. Bxf7+ Kxf7 4. Qh5+ Kg8 5. Qd5+)
- ECO
- B02
- Moves
- 3 plies
- FEN
rnbqkb1r/pppppppp/5n2/8/2B1P3/8/PPPP1PPP/RNBQK1NR b KQkq - 2 2- PGN
1. e4 Nf6 2. Bc4
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 2,490 | |
| 1500-1999 | 952 | |
| 2000+ | 121 | |
| All | 3,563 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 2… Nxe4 | 1,814 (51%) | |
| 2… e6 | 455 (13%) | |
| 2… e5 | 342 (10%) | |
| 2… d5 | 337 (9%) | |
| 2… Nc6 | 190 (5%) | |
| 2… d6 | 151 (4%) | |
| 2… g6 | 124 (3%) | |
| 2… c6 | 64 (2%) |
Master games
29 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 28%, draw 3%, Black 69%). The strongest:
- GM Kirill Alekseenko (2696) – FM Deniz Arman (2336) 1-0 · Titled Arena Mar 6th 2021 · 2021-03-06
- IM Krystian Kuzmicz (2469) – WIM Krasenkova, I. (2178) 1-0 · PGNiG Polish Cup Lodz · 2021-08-07
- FM Adrian Musat (2387) – FM Nicholas Vettese (2231) 0-1 · Titled Tuesday 13th Apr · 2021-04-13
- CM Gasan Guliev (2123) – FM Casper Liu (2351) 0-1 · Titled Tue 3rd Feb 2026 · 2026-02-03
- FM Milan Mostertman (2252) – FM Das Suvradeepta (2166) 0-1 · Titled Tue 24th Mar 2026 · 2026-03-24
Search all games of the Alekhine Defense: Krejcik Variation and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- AcademiaPlazadeArmas (2513) – benga77 (2426) 0-1 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 0s
- MC-VA-RJF (2335) – FM Charilaos2 (2423) 0-1 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 0s
- Wholesale_Failure (2340) – bbubb (2304) 0-1 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 2s
Comes from
Alekhine Defense (1. e4 Nf6) 1. e4 Nf6
Continuations
- Alekhine Defense: Krejcik Variation, Krejcik Gambit B02 · 1. e4 Nf6 2. Bc4 Nxe4 3. Bxf7+
More Alekhine Defense lines (all)
- 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: Maróczy Variation B02
- Alekhine Defense: Mokele Mbembe B02
- Alekhine Defense: Mokele Mbembe, Modern Line B02
- Alekhine Defense: Mokele Mbembe, Vavra Defense B02
- Alekhine Defense: Normal Variation 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.