Alekhine Defense: Maróczy Variation

1. e4 Nf6 2. d3

Alekhine Defense: Maróczy Variation after 1. e4 Nf6 2. d3 87654321abcdefgh

The Alekhine Defense: Maróczy Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO B02, reached after 1. e4 Nf6 2. 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 7,650 times by this move order. White won 49%, 5% were drawn and Black won 46%. The most popular continuation is 2… e5 (34% of games).

Engine evaluation: 0.00 (Stockfish, depth 55; best line 2… e5 3. f4 exf4 4. Bxf4 Nc6 5. Be2)

ECO
B02
Moves
3 plies
FEN
rnbqkb1r/pppppppp/5n2/8/4P3/3P4/PPP2PPP/RNBQKBNR b KQkq - 0 2
PGN
1. e4 Nf6 2. d3

Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess

Results by rating

Average ratingGamesWhite / draw / Black
0-14993,52050%46%
1500-19992,83649%46%
2000+1,29448%48%
All7,65049%46%

Most played moves

MoveGamesWhite / draw / Black
2… e52,615 (34%)48%47%
2… d52,117 (28%)47%48%
2… d6956 (12%)50%45%
2… Nc6626 (8%)51%44%
2… e6448 (6%)52%44%
2… g6394 (5%)48%48%
2… c5154 (2%)58%38%
2… c697 (1%)47%46%

Master games

700 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 38%, draw 15%, Black 47%). The strongest:

Search all games of the Alekhine Defense: Maróczy Variation and its sub-variations

Highest-rated Lichess games

Comes from

Alekhine Defense (1. e4 Nf6) 1. e4 Nf6

More Alekhine Defense lines (all)

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.