Slav Defense: Alekhine Variation
1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 dxc4 5. e3
The Slav Defense: Alekhine Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO D15, reached after 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 dxc4 5. e3. It is a line of the Slav Defense. Black is to move.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 77 times by this move order. White won 49%, 4% were drawn and Black won 47%. The most popular continuation is 5… b5 (75% of games).
Engine evaluation: −0.16 (Stockfish, depth 48; best line 5… b5 6. a4 b4 7. Nb1 Ba6 8. Be2)
- ECO
- D15
- Moves
- 9 plies
- FEN
rnbqkb1r/pp2pppp/2p2n2/8/2pP4/2N1PN2/PP3PPP/R1BQKB1R b KQkq - 0 5- PGN
1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 dxc4 5. e3
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 9 | |
| 1500-1999 | 36 | |
| 2000+ | 32 | |
| All | 77 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 5… b5 | 58 (75%) | |
| 5… Bf5 | 8 (10%) | |
| 5… Bg4 | 6 (8%) | |
| 5… e6 | 3 (4%) | |
| 5… Be6 | 2 (3%) |
Master games
188 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 38%, draw 21%, Black 41%). The strongest:
- GM Fabiano Caruana (2792) – GM Daniil Dubov (2720) 1-0 · Chess.com Rapid Wk3 KO · 2022-02-27
- GM Jeffery Xiong (2679) – GM Anton Smirnov (2567) 1-0 · chess.com Junior Speed · 2019-06-18
- GM Emre Can (2519) – GM Tigran L. Petrosian (2660) 1/2-1/2 · World Teams 2013 · 2013-12-03
- GM Tornike Sanikidze (2559) – GM Svetushkin, D. (2602) 1/2-1/2 · 11th Meurthe Festival KO · 2013-03-10
- GM Athanasios Mastrovasilis (2541) – GM Svetushkin, D. (2608) 1/2-1/2 · 22nd Kavala Open 2013 · 2013-08-10
Search all games of the Slav Defense: Alekhine Variation and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- HamdanYelpiChessOne (2538) – FM luisangel1808 (2540) 1-0 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
- KaizenPower (2482) – no404 (2410) 1-0 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 2s
- Achanich (2357) – Luleaplayer (2395) 1-0 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Slav Defense: Two Knights Attack 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 dxc4
More Slav Defense lines (all)
- Slav Defense (2. c4 c6) D10
- Slav Defense (2… c6 3. Nc3) D10
- Slav Defense (3. Nc3 dxc4) D10
- Slav Defense: Diemer Gambit D10
- Slav Defense: Exchange Variation (2… c6 3. cxd5) D10
- Slav Defense: Exchange Variation, Boor Attack D10
- Slav Defense: Slav Gambit, Alekhine Attack D10
- Slav Defense: Winawer Countergambit D10
- Slav Defense: Winawer Countergambit, Anti-Winawer Gambit D10
- Slav Defense: Bonet Gambit D11
- Slav Defense: Breyer Variation D11
- Slav Defense: Modern Line (2… c6 3. Nf3) D11
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.