Alekhine Defense: Modern Variation, Larsen-Haakert Variation
1. e4 Nf6 2. e5 Nd5 3. d4 d6 4. Nf3 Nc6
The Alekhine Defense: Modern Variation, Larsen-Haakert Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO B04, reached after 1. e4 Nf6 2. e5 Nd5 3. d4 d6 4. Nf3 Nc6. It is a line of the Alekhine Defense. White is to move.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 313 times by this move order. White won 50%, 4% were drawn and Black won 46%. The most popular continuation is 5. c4 (29% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.89 (Stockfish, depth 36; best line 5. c4 Nb6 6. e6 fxe6 7. Nc3 g6)
- ECO
- B04
- Moves
- 8 plies
- FEN
r1bqkb1r/ppp1pppp/2np4/3nP3/3P4/5N2/PPP2PPP/RNBQKB1R w KQkq - 2 5- PGN
1. e4 Nf6 2. e5 Nd5 3. d4 d6 4. Nf3 Nc6
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 51 | |
| 1500-1999 | 158 | |
| 2000+ | 104 | |
| All | 313 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 5. c4 | 91 (29%) | |
| 5. Bc4 | 68 (22%) | |
| 5. Bb5 | 57 (18%) | |
| 5. exd6 | 49 (16%) | |
| 5. c3 | 17 (5%) | |
| 5. h3 | 8 (3%) | |
| 5. Be2 | 7 (2%) | |
| 5. Be3 | 4 (1%) |
Master games
288 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 49%, draw 15%, Black 36%). The strongest:
- LCZero0.28.0-rc1_69146 (3614) – ScorpioNN3.0.13 (3483) 1-0 · TCEC 21 Premier 2021 · 2021-07-01
- ScorpioNN3.0.13 (3483) – LCZero0.28.0-rc1_69146 (3614) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 21 Premier 2021 · 2021-06-28
- GM Yifan Hou (2658) – GM Hikaru Nakamura (2777) 1/2-1/2 · chess.com Speed 5m+1spm 2017 · 2018-07-26
- GM Sergey Grigoriants (2576) – GM Hikaru Nakamura (2786) 0-1 · chess.com Speed 1m+1spm 2017 · 2017-05-03
- GM Sergey Grigoriants (2576) – GM Hikaru Nakamura (2786) 0-1 · chess.com Speed 1m+1spm 2017 · 2017-05-03
Highest-rated Lichess games
- altayskiy_shahmatist (2570) – quinquileria (2508) 1/2-1/2 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 2s
- ffl0 (2501) – IM calito1969 (2503) 1-0 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
- IM SevanB (2516) – Ismailrekikoss (2470) 0-1 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Alekhine Defense: Modern Variation 1. e4 Nf6 2. e5 Nd5 3. d4 d6 4. Nf3
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.