Alekhine Defense: Normal Variation
1. e4 Nf6 2. e5 Nd5
The Alekhine Defense: Normal Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO B02, reached after 1. e4 Nf6 2. e5 Nd5. It is a line of the Alekhine Defense. White is to move. 6 named lines continue from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 45,471 times by this move order. White won 48%, 4% were drawn and Black won 48%. The most popular continuation is 3. d4 (42% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.51 (Stockfish, depth 55; best line 3. d4 d6 4. c4 Nb6 5. f4 dxe5)
- ECO
- B02
- Moves
- 4 plies
- FEN
rnbqkb1r/pppppppp/8/3nP3/8/8/PPPP1PPP/RNBQKBNR w KQkq - 1 3- PGN
1. e4 Nf6 2. e5 Nd5
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 8,984 | |
| 1500-1999 | 23,664 | |
| 2000+ | 12,823 | |
| All | 45,471 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 3. d4 Alekhine Defense (2… Nd5 3. d4) | 19,292 (42%) | |
| 3. c4 Two Pawns Attack | 15,857 (35%) | |
| 3. Nf3 | 3,928 (9%) | |
| 3. Bc4 | 3,439 (8%) | |
| 3. Nc3 Sämisch Attack | 1,764 (4%) | |
| 3. Qf3 | 376 (1%) | |
| 3. f4 | 191 (0%) | |
| 3. g3 | 141 (0%) |
Master games
891 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 42%, draw 15%, Black 43%). The strongest:
- SlowChess Blitz 2.83 avx2 (3490) – LCZero 0.29-dev+_781561 (3586) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 22 Premier 2022 · 2022-03-22
- LCZero 0.29-dev+_781561 (3586) – SlowChess Blitz 2.83 avx2 (3490) 1-0 · TCEC 22 Premier 2022 · 2022-03-19
- ScorpioNN 3.0.15.5 (3514) – Stoofvlees II a19 (3509) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 22 Premier 2022 · 2022-03-22
- Stoofvlees II a19 (3509) – ScorpioNN 3.0.15.5 (3514) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 22 Premier 2022 · 2022-03-19
- GM Magnus Carlsen (2853) – GM Hikaru Nakamura (2787) 1-0 · chess.com Blitz Final 1m+1spm 2016 · 2016-10-27
Search all games of the Alekhine Defense: Normal Variation and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- tsunami10 (2814) – ChessWarrior_222 (2778) 1-0 · 2026-09-06 · 180 + 0s
- Jiordani_Jovanovich (2834) – FM stanbad1 (2732) 1-0 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
- GM sillyMASTER (2840) – IM rhinoceros2015 (2700) 1-0 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Alekhine Defense (1. e4 Nf6) 1. e4 Nf6
Continuations
- Alekhine Defense (2… Nd5 3. d4) B03 · 1. e4 Nf6 2. e5 Nd5 3. d4
- Alekhine Defense: Buckley Attack B02 · 1. e4 Nf6 2. e5 Nd5 3. Na3
- Alekhine Defense: Sämisch Attack B02 · 1. e4 Nf6 2. e5 Nd5 3. Nc3
- Alekhine Defense: Two Pawns Attack B02 · 1. e4 Nf6 2. e5 Nd5 3. c4
- Alekhine Defense: Welling Variation B02 · 1. e4 Nf6 2. e5 Nd5 3. b3
- Alekhine Defense: Kmoch Variation B02 · 1. e4 Nf6 2. e5 Nd5 3. Bc4 Nb6 4. Bb3 c5 5. d3
More Alekhine Defense lines (all)
- Alekhine Defense: Brooklyn Variation B02
- Alekhine Defense: Brooklyn Variation, Everglades Variation 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: Krejcik Variation B02
- Alekhine Defense: Krejcik Variation, Krejcik Gambit 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: Scandinavian 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.