Queen's Gambit Accepted: Alekhine Defense
1. d4 d5 2. c4 dxc4 3. Nf3 a6
The Queen's Gambit Accepted: Alekhine Defense is a chess opening classified as ECO D22, reached after 1. d4 d5 2. c4 dxc4 3. Nf3 a6. It is a line of the Queen's Gambit Accepted. White is to move. 3 named lines continue from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 456 times by this move order. White won 49%, 6% were drawn and Black won 45%. The most popular continuation is 4. e3 (32% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.16 (Stockfish, depth 56; best line 4. e3 c5 5. Bxc4 e6 6. O-O Nf6)
- ECO
- D22
- Moves
- 6 plies
- FEN
rnbqkbnr/1pp1pppp/p7/8/2pP4/5N2/PP2PPPP/RNBQKB1R w KQkq - 0 4- PGN
1. d4 d5 2. c4 dxc4 3. Nf3 a6
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 62 | |
| 1500-1999 | 189 | |
| 2000+ | 205 | |
| All | 456 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 4. e3 | 145 (32%) | |
| 4. a4 | 142 (31%) | |
| 4. g3 | 56 (12%) | |
| 4. Nc3 | 46 (10%) | |
| 4. e4 Alekhine Defense, Borisenko-Furman Variation | 43 (9%) | |
| 4. Bf4 | 8 (2%) | |
| 4. Qa4+ | 6 (1%) | |
| 4. Ne5 | 3 (1%) |
Master games
1,128 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 38%, draw 27%, Black 35%). The strongest:
- LCZero 0.31-dag-e429eeb-BT3-2790000 (3642) – Stockfish dev-20231010-00263636 (3673) 1-0 · TCEC 25 Superfinal 2023 · 2023-10-29
- Stockfish dev-20231010-00263636 (3673) – LCZero 0.31-dag-e429eeb-BT3-2790000 (3642) 1-0 · TCEC 25 Superfinal 2023 · 2023-10-29
- Ethereal13.07_NNUE-15EE (3497) – Stockfish2021061923 (3632) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 21 Premier 2021 · 2021-07-05
- Stockfish2021061923 (3632) – Ethereal13.07_NNUE-15EE (3497) 1-0 · TCEC 21 Premier 2021 · 2021-07-03
- LCZero 0.30-dag-8092b376-BT2-3 (3573) – SlowChess Blitz 2.9 avx2 (3455) 1-0 · TCEC 24 Premier 2023 · 2023-03-19
Search all games of the Queen's Gambit Accepted: Alekhine Defense and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- gsg_1999 (2591) – Laterchess (2530) 0-1 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
- JohnDear (2558) – orhanilu (2533) 0-1 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
- Janet88 (2556) – IM dmchess007 (2518) 1-0 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 2s
Comes from
Queen's Gambit Accepted: Normal Variation (2… dxc4 3. Nf3) 1. d4 d5 2. c4 dxc4 3. Nf3
Continuations
- Queen's Gambit Accepted: Alekhine Defense, Borisenko-Furman Variation D21 · 1. d4 d5 2. c4 dxc4 3. Nf3 a6 4. e4
- Queen's Gambit Accepted: Alekhine Defense, Haberditz Variation D22 · 1. d4 d5 2. c4 dxc4 3. Nf3 a6 4. e3 b5
- Queen's Gambit Accepted: Alekhine Defense, Alatortsev Variation D22 · 1. d4 d5 2. c4 dxc4 3. Nf3 a6 4. e3 Bg4 5. Bxc4 e6 6. d5
More Queen's Gambit Accepted lines (all)
- Queen's Gambit Accepted (2. c4 dxc4) D20
- Queen's Gambit Accepted: Accelerated Mannheim Variation D20
- Queen's Gambit Accepted: Central Variation, Alekhine System D20
- Queen's Gambit Accepted: Central Variation, Greco Variation D20
- Queen's Gambit Accepted: Central Variation, McDonnell Defense D20
- Queen's Gambit Accepted: Central Variation, McDonnell Defense, Somov Gambit D20
- Queen's Gambit Accepted: Central Variation, Modern Defense D20
- Queen's Gambit Accepted: Central Variation, Rubinstein Defense D20
- Queen's Gambit Accepted: Central Variation, Rubinstein Defense, Yefimov Gambit D20
- Queen's Gambit Accepted: Linares Variation D20
- Queen's Gambit Accepted: Old Variation D20
- Queen's Gambit Accepted: Old Variation, Billinger Gambit D20
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.