Alekhine Defense: Modern Variation, Larsen Variation
1. e4 Nf6 2. e5 Nd5 3. d4 d6 4. Nf3 dxe5
The Alekhine Defense: Modern Variation, Larsen Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO B04, reached after 1. e4 Nf6 2. e5 Nd5 3. d4 d6 4. Nf3 dxe5. 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 692 times by this move order. White won 50%, 6% were drawn and Black won 44%. The most popular continuation is 5. Nxe5 (64% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.37 (Stockfish, depth 40; best line 5. Nxe5 c6 6. Be2 Bf5 7. O-O Nd7)
- ECO
- B04
- Moves
- 8 plies
- FEN
rnbqkb1r/ppp1pppp/8/3np3/3P4/5N2/PPP2PPP/RNBQKB1R w KQkq - 0 5- PGN
1. e4 Nf6 2. e5 Nd5 3. d4 d6 4. Nf3 dxe5
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 127 | |
| 1500-1999 | 282 | |
| 2000+ | 283 | |
| All | 692 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 5. Nxe5 | 440 (64%) | |
| 5. dxe5 | 236 (34%) | |
| 5. c4 | 12 (2%) | |
| 5. Bc4 | 3 (0%) | |
| 5. c3 | 1 (0%) |
Master games
2,832 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 39%, draw 24%, Black 37%). The strongest:
- Houdini 6.03 (3854) – AllieStein v0.5_timefix-n14.0 (3936) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 20 Premier 2020 · 2020-03-31
- AllieStein v0.5_timefix-n14.0 (3936) – Houdini 6.03 (3854) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 20 Premier 2020 · 2020-03-28
- LCZero v0.25.1-sv-t60-3010 (3809) – Stoofvlees II a14 (3730) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 18 Premier 2020 · 2020-06-07
- Stoofvlees II a14 (3730) – LCZero v0.25.1-sv-t60-3010 (3809) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 18 Premier 2020 · 2020-06-03
- Komodo 2576.00 (3505) – ScorpioNN 3.0.8.3 (3448) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 19 Premier 2020 · 2020-09-16
Search all games of the Alekhine Defense: Modern Variation, Larsen Variation and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- IM beatles_21 (2746) – CM JoeAssaad (2674) 1-0 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
- SackOnTheKing930 (2736) – CM JoeAssaad (2666) 1-0 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
- tourdefra (2740) – CM JoeAssaad (2654) 0-1 · 2026-09-02 · 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.