Alekhine Defense: Welling Variation
1. e4 Nf6 2. e5 Nd5 3. b3
The Alekhine Defense: Welling Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO B02, reached after 1. e4 Nf6 2. e5 Nd5 3. b3. 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 36 times by this move order. White won 47%, 9% were drawn and Black won 44%. The most popular continuation is 3… d6 (44% of games).
Engine evaluation: −0.19 (Stockfish, depth 36; best line 3… d6 4. Nf3 Bg4 5. h3 Bh5 6. Nc3)
- ECO
- B02
- Moves
- 5 plies
- FEN
rnbqkb1r/pppppppp/8/3nP3/8/1P6/P1PP1PPP/RNBQKBNR b KQkq - 0 3- PGN
1. e4 Nf6 2. e5 Nd5 3. b3
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 7 | |
| 1500-1999 | 13 | |
| 2000+ | 16 | |
| All | 36 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 3… d6 | 16 (44%) | |
| 3… e6 | 5 (14%) | |
| 3… g6 | 5 (14%) | |
| 3… Nb6 | 4 (11%) | |
| 3… Nc6 | 3 (8%) | |
| 3… c5 | 2 (6%) | |
| 3… c6 | 1 (3%) |
Master games
9 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 56%, draw 0%, Black 44%). The strongest:
- CM Michal Kopczynski (2225) – FM Shiroghlan Talibov (2359) 0-1 · Titled Tue 18th Apr Early · 2023-04-18
- Adrien Bailleul (2040) – IM Sebastien Joie (2402) 0-1 · 10th Vaujany Open 2019 · 2019-07-11
- CM Adnan Sitnic (2040) – IM Nikolaos Spyropoulos (2379) 0-1 · Titled Tue 5th May 2026 · 2026-05-05
- FM Wilver Vargas Rodriguez (2332) – WFM Fruzsina Szente Varga (2075) 0-1 · Titled Tue 16th May Early · 2023-05-16
- David J Grant (2093) – WIM Krasenkova, I. (2143) 1-0 · Bastia Open 2023 · 2023-07-10
Search all games of the Alekhine Defense: Welling Variation and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- Noddy2001 (2411) – jamespas1000 (2250) 1-0 · 2026-09-07 · 300 + 0s
- AlbertaGenuineDraft (2290) – ChessteacherpalmS (2344) 0-1 · 2026-09-06 · 300 + 0s
- EvertonTogni (2384) – islamleader (2242) 1-0 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Alekhine Defense: Normal Variation 1. e4 Nf6 2. e5 Nd5
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.