Alekhine Defense 2…Nd5 3. d4
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Statistics from Lichess
6,608,156 games: White 46.5% / Draw 5.1% / Black 48.4%
| Next move | Games | White / Draw / BlackW / D / B |
|---|---|---|
| 5,067,7825.1M | ||
| 536,673537K | ||
| 493,906494K | ||
| 152,517153K | ||
| O'Sullivan Gambit | 146,981147K | |
| 92,22092K | ||
| 61,86862K | ||
| 31,12931K |
Rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, from the Lichess opening explorer, updated Oct 30, 2026
Engine evaluation
+0.77 White is better
Best play: 3... d6 4. c4 Nb6 5. f4 Bf5 6. Be2 dxe5 7. fxe5 e6 8. Nc3
Stockfish 19, depth 30, after the line's last move. Scores are in pawns, from White's side.
By rating
The stronger the players, the worse this line does for White: White scores 56% under 1400, 51% at 2200 and up and 58% in master games (wins plus half the draws).
| Players | Games | White / Draw / BlackW / D / B |
|---|---|---|
| Under 1400 | 836K | |
| 1400–1799 | 2.3M | |
| 1800–2199 | 4.1M | |
| 2200 and up | 998K | |
| Masters, over the board | 15K |
Master games
- Caruana, F. – Carlsen, M.
- Nakamura, H. – Carlsen, M.
- Erigaisi, A. – Abdusattorov, N.
- Anand, V. – Nakamura, H.
- Anand, V. – Mamedyarov, S.
Rated blitz, rapid and classical Lichess games by rating band, and over-the-board games of players rated 2200+ from the Lichess masters database, updated Sep 26, 2026
Overview
Alekhine Defense (ECO B03, Semi-Open Games) is a variation of the Alekhine Defense: Normal Variation, reached after 1. e4 Nf6 2. e5 Nd5 3. d4 (3 moves).
In 6,608,156 rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, White won 46.5%, Black 48.4% and 5.1% were drawn. Black's most played move here is 3…d6, in 77% of those games.
It branches into 2 named variations; the most played is Alekhine Defense: O'Sullivan Gambit. In all, 28 named lines continue from it.
Written from the Lichess opening list and explorer. Know this line well? Write about it.
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How to answer 3. d4
The most played answer, 3…d6, also scores best for Black: 51.8%, with Black winning 49.1% and White 45.5% of 5.1M games. Of the main answers, 3…e6 scores lowest: 46.0%. Stockfish's first choice is also 3…d6.
Main answers: those played in at least 5% of these games. Score: Black's wins plus half the draws, in rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500. How to play against other popular openings
Popularity by year
This line peaked in 2018 at 0.31% of Lichess games and has slipped since: 0.24% in 2025.
Numbers by year
| Year | Share of games | Games |
|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 0.28% | 98,621 |
| 2017 | 0.3% | 167,069 |
| 2018 | 0.31% | 247,123 |
| 2019 | 0.29% | 359,607 |
| 2020 | 0.27% | 789,476 |
| 2021 | 0.24% | 944,227 |
| 2022 | 0.25% | 928,976 |
| 2023 | 0.25% | 949,619 |
| 2024 | 0.25% | 903,127 |
| 2025 | 0.24% | 847,967 |
| 2026 (Jan–Apr) | 0.24% | 263,874 |
Share of rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500 (blitz, rapid and classical) that reach this position, by year; 2026: January to April. Which openings are rising and falling
Variations (2)
All 28 named lines that continue from here
No line matches.
- B03 Alekhine Defense 3 moves
- B03 O'Sullivan Gambit 3 moves
- B03 Alekhine Defense 4 moves
- B03 Balogh Variation 4 moves
- B04 Modern Variation 4 moves
- B03 Exchange Variation 5 moves
- B03 Four Pawns Attack 5 moves
- B03 Hunt Variation 5 moves
- B04 Alburt Variation 4 moves
- B03 Modern Variation, Alekhine Gambit 6 moves
- B04 Larsen Variation 4 moves
- B04 Larsen-Haakert Variation 4 moves
- B05 Main Line 4 moves
- B04 Schmid Variation 4 moves
- B03 Karpov Variation 11 moves
- B03 Voronezh Variation 9 moves
- B03 Cambridge Gambit 5 moves
- B03 Fianchetto Variation 5 moves
- B03 Ilyin-Zhenevsky Variation 9 moves
- B03 Korchnoi Variation 10 moves
- B03 Main Line 7 moves
- B03 Trifunovic Variation 5 moves
- B05 Alekhine Defense: Modern Variation, Alekhine Variation 5 moves
- B05 Alekhine Defense: Modern Variation, Flohr Variation 5 moves
- B04 Alekhine Defense: Modern Variation, Keres Variation 7 moves
- B05 Alekhine Defense: Modern Variation, Panov Variation 5 moves
- B03 Alekhine Defense: Four Pawns Attack, Tartakower Variation 11 moves
- B05 Alekhine Defense: Modern Variation, Vitolins Attack 6 moves
Cite this page
Caissa Codex. “Alekhine Defense (B03)”. Lichess data as of 30 Oct 2026. https://chesscodex.org/openings/alekhine-defense-2