Alekhine Defense

Originally posted by omulcusobolani
I've started playing it and I enjoy the crazyness..here's my moast interesting game with it so far:Game 2342862. And here is a game played in the crazyest line of the alekhine...

No, the craziest line is 2....Ne4 🙄

Originally posted by ThudanBlunder
No, the craziest line is 2....Ne4 🙄

I can out-crazy the lot of you. I used to open 1. e4 Nf6 2. e5 Ng8.

Hah, out of theory on move 3, I used to think. Until one guy went 3. e6.

Originally posted by TommyC
I can out-crazy the lot of you. I used to open 1. e4 Nf6 2. e5 Ng8.

Hah, out of theory on move 3, I used to think. Until one guy went 3. e6.

I believe that Petrosian once played 2...Ng8 with the Alekhine's Defense.

Originally posted by gaychessplayer
I believe that Petrosian once played 2...Ng8 with the Alekhine's Defense.

Apparently so, according to my database:

Boleslavsky,Isaak
vs.
Petrosian,Tigran V
1966, Moscow Training - Round 6, Moscow, ECO B02

1.e4 Nf6 2.e5 Ng8 3.d4 d6 4.Nf3 g6 5.Nc3 Bg7 6.Bc4 c6 7.h3 d5 8.Bb3 b6 9.O-O e6 10.Re1 Ba6 11.Ne2 Ne7 12.Nf4 h6 13.c3 Nd7 14.Bc2 c5 15.b3 Rc8 16.a4 Qc7 17.Ra2 O-O 18.h4 Rfd8 19.Bb1 Nf8 20.Ne2 Bxe2 21.Raxe2 h5 22.g3 Rd7 23.Rc2 Qb7 24.b4 cxb4 25.cxb4 Rc4 26.Rb2 Nc6 27.b5 Na5 28.Bd2 Rc8 29.Ra2 Nc4 30.Bf4 Nh7 31.g4 hxg4 32.Nh2 Na5 33.Nxg4 Rc4 34.h5 Nf8 35.Bg5 Qc8 36.Nf6+ Bxf6 37.Bxf6 Rdc7 38.Qd2 Nh7 39.hxg6 fxg6 40.Qh6 Qf8 41.Qxg6+ Rg7 42.Bxg7 Qxg7 43.Qxg7+ Kxg7 44.f4 Nf8 45.f5 Rxd4 46.Rg2+ Kf7 47.Rf1 1-0

Originally posted by cmsMaster
It's crazy, it's wild, it's not popular. Anybody here support it?

It's sound, but there are a few tough lines. I typed up many lines from Standard Chess Openings by Schiller, but it also includes some of my own input. Planning to switch over to that Alekhine defensive system myself - very hypermodern. Many people will use the 2. Nc3 sideline (then answered by 2...d5). The Four Pawns Attack is what a player of the Alekhine likes to see.

[Event "?"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2006.08.21"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Alekhine's Defense"]
[Black "Yuga"]
[Result "*"]
[ECO "B02"]
[Annotator "Yuga"]
[PlyCount "47"]
[EventDate "2006.??.??"]

1. e4 Nf6 2. e5 (2. Nc3 d5 3. exd5 (3. e5 Nfd7 (3... Ne4 4. Nce2 d4 (4... f6 {
Old plan; retired} 5. d3 Ng5 6. Bxg5 (6. Nf4 {More common.}) 6... fxg5 7. h4
gxh4 $6 8. Nf4 g6 9. Rxh4 Bg7 10. d4 c5 11. Bd3 Qa5+ 12. Kf1 cxd4 13. Rxh7 Rxh7
14. Bxg6+ Kd8 15. Bxh7 Bxe5 16. Qf3 Nc6 17. Nxd5 Be6 18. Qf8+ Kd7 19. Qxa8 Qb5+
20. Bd3 Qxb2 21. Nb6+ Qxb6 22. Nf3 Bb8 23. c3 dxc3 24. Rb1 Qxb1+ (24... c2 25.
Bxc2 Qa6+ 26. Kg1 Kc7 27. Bb3 Bc8 28. Rc1 Qa3 29. Rc3 Qb2 30. Re3 a6 31. Ne1
Ba7 32. Rxe7+ Nxe7 33. Qxa7 Qf6 34. Bc4 Nc6 35. Qe3 Qd4 $16) 25. Bxb1 Kc7 {
Vorotnikov-Kengis} 26. Ke1 $1 $18) 5. c3 dxc3 (5... Nc6) 6. Qa4+ (6. bxc3) 6...
Nd7 7. Qxe4 Nc5 8. Qf3 Nd3+ 9. Kd1 c2+ 10. Kxc2 Ne1+ 11. Kc3 Nxf3 {
This looks good!}) 4. d4 (4. Nxd5 Nxe5 5. Ne3 Nbc6 6. Nf3 Nxf3+ 7. Qxf3 Qd6 8.
Bb5 Bd7 9. O-O e6 10. c3 Qe5 11. a4 Bd6 12. g3 Qf6 13. Qxf6 gxf6 14. d4 Na5 15.
Bxd7+ Kxd7 {good prospects for Black (Mieses-Alekhine)}) 4... c5 5. Bb5 (5.
Nxd5 e6 6. Nc3 cxd4 7. Qxd4 Nc6 8. Qd1 Ncxe5 9. Nf3 Nxf3+ 10. Qxf3 Be7 11. Bd3
O-O 12. O-O {A little more comfortable for white (Aurbach-Alekhine)}) 5... Nc6
6. Nf3 a6 7. Bxc6 bxc6 8. e6 fxe6 9. O-O e5 10. dxe5 e6 11. Ng5 Qe7 $6 12. f4 {
Bogoljubow-Alekhine}) 3... Nxd5 4. d4 (4. Bc4 Nb6 5. Bb3 Nc6 6. Nf3 Bf5 7. d4
e6 8. Bf4 Bd6 9. Qd2 O-O 10. O-O Bg4 11. Bxd6 Qxd6 12. Ne4 Qd8 13. c3 Bxf3 14.
gxf3 e5 {White's pwns too weak (Milner Barry-Alekhine)}) (4. f4 e6 5. Nf3 c5 6.
g3 Nc6 7. Bg2 Be7 8. O-O O-O 9. d3 Nb6 10. Ne2 c4 11. g4 {
White has the initiative? (Nimzowitsch-Alekhine)}) 4... Nc6 5. Bb5 Nxc3 6.
Bxc6+ bxc6 7. bxc3 Qd5 8. Qf3 Bf5 9. Qxd5 cxd5 {
Better for black (Factor-Alekhine)}) (2. d3 c5 (2... Nc6) (2... e5 3. f4 Nc6 4.
Nf3 (4. fxe5 Nxe5 5. Nf3 Nxf3+ 6. Qxf3 d5 7. e5 Qe7 8. d4 Ne4 9. Bd3 Qh4+ 10.
g3 Qg4 11. Nd2 Qxf3 12. Nxf3 Be7 13. Be3 Bh3 14. Bxe4 dxe4 15. Nd2 O-O-O {
Fine for black; threat of Bg2 (Nimzowitsch-Alekhine)}) 4... d5 5. exd5 Nxd5 6.
fxe5 Bg4 7. Be2 Bxf3 8. Bxf3 Qh4+ 9. g3 Qd4 {
Black has more than enough compensation for the pawn?! (Maroczy-Alekhine)}) 3.
f4 Nc6 4. Nf3 {Closed Sicilian (Thomas-Alekhine)}) 2... Nd5 3. Nc3 (3. Bc4 Nb6
4. Bb3 c5 5. d3 Nc6 6. Nf3 e6 7. Nc3 d5 8. exd6 Bxd6 9. Ne4 Be7 {
Black has a solid position (Sergeant-Alekhine)}) (3. d4 d6 4. Nf3 {Modern Vars}
(4. c4 Nb6 5. f4 {Four Pwns Attack} dxe5 6. fxe5 Nc6 {An interesting variation.
} (6... c5 7. d5 e6 8. Nc3 exd5 9. cxd5 c4 10. d6 Nc6 11. Nf3 Bg4 12. Bf4 g5 $4
13. Ne4) 7. Be3 Bf5 8. Nc3 e6 9. Nf3 (9. Be2 {Best!} Nb4 10. Rc1 c5 (10... Qh4+
11. g3 Qe7 $14) 11. a3 $2 (11. Nf3 {Best.}) 11... cxd4 12. Bg5 $4) 9... Be7 (
9... Qd7 10. Be2 O-O-O 11. O-O Bg4 {Necessary to prevent advance of d pwn?} 12.
c5 Nd5 13. Nxd5 Qxd5 14. b4 Qe4 15. Qb3 Nxd4 16. Nxd4 Bxe2 17. Nxe2 Rd3 18. Qa4
Qxe3+ 19. Kh1 Qxe2 20. Qxa7 Rd2 21. Qa8+ Kd7 22. Qxb7 {
White has a powerful attack for the piece (Minasian-Donchenko)}) 10. d5 Nb4 (
10... exd5 11. cxd5 Nb4 12. Nd4 Bd7 13. e6 fxe6 14. dxe6 Bc6 15. Qg4 Bh4+ 16.
g3 Bxh1 17. O-O-O O-O 18. gxh4 {Complicated, not fully explored.}) 11. Rc1 f6
$6 12. a3 Na6 13. g4 Bxg4 14. Rg1 Bh5 15. Be2 fxe5 16. Ng5 Bxe2 17. Qxe2 Bxg5
18. Rxg5 {Black is in trouble?!}) (4. exd6) (4. Bg5 dxe5 5. dxe5 Nc6 6. Bb5 Bf5
7. Nf3 Ndb4 8. Na3 Qxd1+ 9. Rxd1 Nxc2+ 10. Nxc2 Bxc2 11. Rc1 Be4 $15 {
Steiner-Alekhine}) 4... dxe5 (4... g6 5. Bc4 {Likely best.} (5. Be2 Bg7 6. c4
Nb6 7. Be3 $2 (7. exd6 {wiser}) 7... dxe5 8. Nxe5 Bxe5 9. dxe5 Qxd1+ 10. Kxd1
Nc6 11. Nd2 Be6 {Bf5 judged superior} (11... Bf5 12. g4 Be6 13. f4 O-O-O 14. b3
Nd4 15. Bxd4 Rxd4 $19) 12. f4 O-O-O 13. b3 Nd4 14. g3 $1 $15) 5... Nb6 6. Bb3
Bg7 7. exd6 cxd6 8. O-O O-O 9. Re1 $14) (4... Bg4 {
Lines after don't look appealing.}) 5. Nxe5 g6 6. Bc4 (6. Nd2 $5 Bg7 7. Ndf3
O-O 8. c4 Nb6 9. Be2 N8d7 10. Bf4 Nxe5 11. Nxe5 Nd7 12. Qd2 Nxe5 13. Bxe5 Bxe5
14. dxe5 Qxd2+ 15. Kxd2 $14 {Miles-Pons}) (6. g3 Nd7 7. Bg2 Nxe5 8. dxe5 c6 9.
O-O Bg7 10. Qe2 Be6 11. b3 Qc8 12. Bb2 Bh3 13. Nd2 Bxg2 14. Kxg2 O-O 15. c4 Nc7
16. Ne4 {White has space. Wolff-deFirmian}) 6... c6 7. O-O (7. Nc3 Bg7 8. Nxd5
cxd5 9. Bb5+ Bd7 10. Bd3 Nc6 11. Nxd7 Qxd7 $14) 7... Bg7 8. Re1 (8. Nd2 O-O 9.
Ndf3 Nd7 10. Nd3 a5 11. a4 N7b6 12. Bb3 Bg4 13. c3 e6 14. h3 Bxf3 15. Qxf3 $14
{Almasi-Kengis}) 8... O-O 9. Bb3 Be6 (9... a5 10. c3 (10. a4 Be6 11. Nd2 Nd7
12. Ndf3 Nxe5 13. Nxe5 Nc7 {Equalizes; De Wit-Etmans}) 10... Be6 11. Nd2 Nd7
12. Nef3 Bg4 13. h3 Bxf3 14. Nxf3 e6 15. Qe2 a4 16. Bxd5 cxd5 {
Solid; Oomen-Etmans}) 10. c3 (10. Nd2 Nd7 11. Ndf3 (11. Nef3 Nc7 12. Ne4 Bxb3
13. axb3 Ne6 14. c3 Re8 15. h4) 11... Nc7) 10... Nd7 11. Nf3 (11. Nd3 b5 12. a4
Re8 13. Nd2 a6 14. Nf3 Bg4 15. axb5 axb5 16. Rxa8 Qxa8 17. h3 Bxf3 18. Qxf3 e6
19. Bg5 h6 20. Bh4 Qa7 21. Bg3 $16) 11... Nc7 12. Bxe6 Nxe6 13. Qb3 Qb6 14. Qc4
c5 15. d5 Nc7 16. Rxe7 Qd6 17. Re1 Qxd5 18. Na3 Nb6 19. Qxd5 Ncxd5 $15 {
Howell-Kengis}) (3. c4 Nb6 4. d4 d6 5. exd6 {Exchange Variation} cxd6 6. Nc3 g6
7. Bd3 Bg7 8. Nge2 Nc6 9. Be3 (9. d5 {More effective.} Ne5 10. O-O Nxd3 11.
Qxd3 Bf5 12. Qd1 {Fine for black.}) 9... O-O 10. O-O e5 {Best plan.} 11. d5 Ne7
12. b3 Nd7 13. Ne4 Nf5 14. Bg5 f6 15. Bd2 Qc7 {
Best (not Nc5 as in Fischer-Berliner).}) 3... e6 4. Nxd5 exd5 5. d4 d6 6. Nf3
Nc6 7. Be2 Be7 8. Bf4 O-O 9. O-O f6 10. exd6 Bxd6 11. Qd2 Bg4 12. Rfe1 Re8 13.
c3 Ne7 14. Bxd6 Qxd6 15. Nh4 Bd7 16. g3 Nf5 17. Nxf5 Bxf5 18. f3 Re6 19. Bf1
Rae8 20. Kf2 Kf7 21. Rxe6 Qxe6 22. Re1 Qxe1+ 23. Qxe1 Rxe1 24. Kxe1 $11 {
(Saemisch-Alekhine)} *

Originally posted by TommyC
I can out-crazy the lot of you. I used to open 1. e4 Nf6 2. e5 Ng8.

Hah, out of theory on move 3, I used to think. Until one guy went 3. e6.

this Ng8 variation is interesting. if black avoids moving his center pawns and just plays on the king-side flank, it might perplex white

Originally posted by ChessJester
I think it is played in the hopes that white will over-stretch himself and eventually be overtaken.

Can anybody convince me, that at least in your opinion, Alekhine D>Sicilian Defense. Or perhaps even that it would suit me better?

Originally posted by Yuga
It's sound, but there are a few tough lines. I typed up many lines from Standard Chess Openings by Schiller, but it also includes some of my own input. Planning to switch over to that Alekhine defensive system myself - very hypermodern. Many people will use the 2. Nc3 sideline (then answered by 2...d5). The Four Pawns Attack is what a player of the Alekhine ...[text shortened]... xe6 22. Re1 Qxe1+ 23. Qxe1 Rxe1 24. Kxe1 $11 {
(Saemisch-Alekhine)} *

Nice, cool stuff.

Originally posted by tonytiger41
this Ng8 variation is interesting. if black avoids moving his center pawns and just plays on the king-side flank, it might perplex white

The idea is usually d6 w Bg4, undermining the white centre without the hassle of a knight being chased across the board, or d5, Bf5, e6 - ie a Caro-Kann Advance set up where rather than c6-c5, the tempo is lost Nf6-g8-f6.

It's all rubbish though. White punts h3 w g4 and trouble looms.

Originally posted by TommyC
The idea is usually d6 w Bg4, undermining the white centre without the hassle of a knight being chased across the board, or d5, Bf5, e6 - ie a Caro-Kann Advance set up where rather than c6-c5, the tempo is lost Nf6-g8-f6.

It's all rubbish though. White punts h3 w g4 and trouble looms.

Since GM's sometimes essay Alehine's Defense (and often win with it!), I think that calling it "rubbish" is a bit over the top, unless you accompany your comments with analysis demonstrating a winning advantage for White.

I think GM Lev Alburt won the U.S. Championship at least twice, and his defense to 1 e4 was none other than 1...Nf6.