Alekhine Defense: The Squirrel
1. e4 Nf6 2. e5 Nd5 3. c4 Nf4
The Alekhine Defense: The Squirrel is a chess opening classified as ECO B02, reached after 1. e4 Nf6 2. e5 Nd5 3. c4 Nf4. 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 458 times by this move order. White won 64%, 2% were drawn and Black won 34%. The most popular continuation is 4. d4 (68% of games).
Engine evaluation: +1.57 (Stockfish, depth 32; best line 4. d4 Ne6 5. d5 Nc5 6. Be3 d6)
- ECO
- B02
- Moves
- 6 plies
- FEN
rnbqkb1r/pppppppp/8/4P3/2P2n2/8/PP1P1PPP/RNBQKBNR w KQkq - 1 4- PGN
1. e4 Nf6 2. e5 Nd5 3. c4 Nf4
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 252 | |
| 1500-1999 | 194 | |
| 2000+ | 12 | |
| All | 458 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 4. d4 | 310 (68%) | |
| 4. g3 | 99 (22%) | |
| 4. d3 | 23 (5%) | |
| 4. Qf3 | 12 (3%) | |
| 4. Nf3 | 3 (1%) | |
| 4. Qg4 | 2 (0%) | |
| 4. a4 | 2 (0%) | |
| 4. c5 | 2 (0%) |
Master games
3 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 67%, draw 0%, Black 33%). The strongest:
- Holger Krause (1638) – Georg Merettig (1785) 0-1 · VMCG Open B 2017 · 2017-07-15
- Fatima Abou Taam (1661) – Virelala Cinzia (1532) 1-0 · 46th Olympiad Women 2026 · 2026-09-19
Search all games of the Alekhine Defense: The Squirrel and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- LeonidSmirnov (2279) – Kiril_badev (2263) 1-0 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
- eRrOr105MaTe (2207) – fastone_2020 (2198) 1-0 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
- JAM2022 (2085) – Artur_Antonov (2037) 1-0 · 2026-09-06 · 300 + 0s
Comes from
Alekhine Defense: Two Pawns Attack 1. e4 Nf6 2. e5 Nd5 3. 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.