Alekhine Defense: Modern Variation, Alekhine Gambit
1. e4 Nf6 2. e5 Nd5 3. d4 d6 4. c4 Nb6 5. Nf3 Bg4 6. Be2
The Alekhine Defense: Modern Variation, Alekhine Gambit is a chess opening classified as ECO B03, reached after 1. e4 Nf6 2. e5 Nd5 3. d4 d6 4. c4 Nb6 5. Nf3 Bg4 6. Be2. 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 82 times by this move order. White won 43%, 5% were drawn and Black won 52%. The most popular continuation is 6… Nc6 (43% of games).
Engine evaluation: 0.00 (Stockfish, depth 38; best line 6… dxe5 7. c5 e4 8. cxb6 exf3 9. Bxf3)
- ECO
- B03
- Moves
- 11 plies
- FEN
rn1qkb1r/ppp1pppp/1n1p4/4P3/2PP2b1/5N2/PP2BPPP/RNBQK2R b KQkq - 4 6- PGN
1. e4 Nf6 2. e5 Nd5 3. d4 d6 4. c4 Nb6 5. Nf3 Bg4 6. Be2
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 7 | |
| 1500-1999 | 55 | |
| 2000+ | 20 | |
| All | 82 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 6… Nc6 | 35 (43%) | |
| 6… dxe5 | 20 (24%) | |
| 6… e6 | 19 (23%) | |
| 6… Bxf3 | 6 (7%) | |
| 6… N8d7 | 1 (1%) | |
| 6… c6 | 1 (1%) |
Master games
20 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 35%, draw 20%, Black 45%). The strongest:
- Ulvi Sadikhov (2289) – IM Espen Lie (2460) 1/2-1/2 · 5th LUCOPEN 2014 · 2014-05-03
- WFM Daria Zaichenko (2104) – IM Balazs Csonka (2479) 0-1 · Titled Tue 16th Jan Early · 2024-01-16
- CM Seyed Kian Ghoreishi Amiri (2215) – Patrick Perry (2296) 0-1 · Titled Tue 27th May Late · 2025-05-27
- WGM Myroslava Hrabinska (2235) – FM Jakub Chyzy (2276) 0-1 · Titled Tuesday 2nd June · 2020-06-02
- FM Shaaketh Sivakumar (2393) – Brian McLaren (2001) 1-0 · Titled Tue 6th Feb Late · 2024-02-06
Search all games of the Alekhine Defense: Modern Variation, Alekhine Gambit and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- SeanGarnier (2313) – Gorostovsky (2380) 0-1 · 2026-09-06 · 180 + 0s
- AbdurRokhman (2306) – Stokafish994 (2349) 1-0 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 2s
- Danila1707 (2233) – Chessplayer1702 (2389) 0-1 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Alekhine Defense (3… d6 4. c4) 1. e4 Nf6 2. e5 Nd5 3. d4 d6 4. c4
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.