Alekhine Defense: Two Pawns Attack, Tate Variation
1. e4 Nf6 2. e5 Nd5 3. c4 Nb6 4. a4
The Alekhine Defense: Two Pawns Attack, Tate Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO B02, reached after 1. e4 Nf6 2. e5 Nd5 3. c4 Nb6 4. a4. 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 1,061 times by this move order. White won 48%, 3% were drawn and Black won 49%. The most popular continuation is 4… a5 (47% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.14 (Stockfish, depth 60; best line 4… a5 5. Nf3 d6 6. d4 Bg4 7. exd6)
- ECO
- B02
- Moves
- 7 plies
- FEN
rnbqkb1r/pppppppp/1n6/4P3/P1P5/8/1P1P1PPP/RNBQKBNR b KQkq - 0 4- PGN
1. e4 Nf6 2. e5 Nd5 3. c4 Nb6 4. a4
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 124 | |
| 1500-1999 | 610 | |
| 2000+ | 327 | |
| All | 1,061 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 4… a5 | 499 (47%) | |
| 4… d6 | 429 (40%) | |
| 4… d5 | 89 (8%) | |
| 4… e6 | 22 (2%) | |
| 4… c5 | 8 (1%) | |
| 4… Nc6 | 6 (1%) | |
| 4… g6 | 3 (0%) | |
| 4… Nxc4 | 2 (0%) |
Master games
209 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 49%, draw 5%, Black 46%). The strongest:
- GM Kirill Alekseenko (2708) – GM Olexandr Bortnyk (2604) 0-1 · Titled Tue 2nd Aug Late · 2022-08-02
- IM Krystian Kuzmicz (2466) – GM Fabiano Caruana (2786) 0-1 · Titled Tue 3rd Oct Late · 2023-10-03
- GM Maxime Lagarde (2655) – IM Irina Bulmaga (2440) 0-1 · ch-FRA Blitz Online Qual · 2020-05-16
- IM Balazs Csonka (2473) – GM Olexandr Bortnyk (2603) 1-0 · Titled Tue 19th Nov Early · 2024-11-19
- IM Sam Schmakel (2457) – GM Olexandr Bortnyk (2608) 0-1 · Titled Tue 16th Apr Late · 2024-04-16
Search all games of the Alekhine Defense: Two Pawns Attack, Tate Variation and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- Andriy_2007 (2591) – gagoteveyu (2736) 0-1 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
- IM wateenellende (2647) – GM funny_chess (2640) 1/2-1/2 · 2026-09-06 · 300 + 0s
- NM gameoverbro (2564) – notkevich (2720) 0-1 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 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.