Alekhine Defense 3. d4 d6
Play any move on the board to explore from there, or step through the line with ‹ › and the arrow keys.
Statistics from Lichess
5,071,200 games: White 45.6% / Draw 5.4% / Black 49.1%
| Next move | Games | White / Draw / BlackW / D / B |
|---|---|---|
| 2,112,6662.1M | ||
| Modern Variation | 1,320,5701.3M | |
| 652,232652K | ||
| 574,825575K | ||
| Balogh Variation | 320,254320K | |
| 19,67720K | ||
| 19,64120K | ||
| 10,42110K |
Rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, from the Lichess opening explorer, updated Oct 30, 2026
Engine evaluation
+0.76 White is better
Best play: 4. c4 Nb6 5. f4 Bf5 6. Be2 dxe5 7. fxe5 Nc6 8. Nf3 e6
Stockfish 19, depth 30, after the line's last move. Scores are in pawns, from White's side.
By rating
Rating changes little here: Black scores 47% under 1400, 49% at 2200 and up and 42% in master games (wins plus half the draws).
| Players | Games | White / Draw / BlackW / D / B |
|---|---|---|
| Under 1400 | 314K | |
| 1400–1799 | 1.4M | |
| 1800–2199 | 3.2M | |
| 2200 and up | 876K | |
| 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, reached after 1. e4 Nf6 2. e5 Nd5 3. d4 d6 (3 moves).
In 5,071,200 rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, White won 45.6%, Black 49.1% and 5.4% were drawn. White's most played move here is 4. c4, in 42% of those games.
It branches into 3 named variations; the most played are Alekhine Defense: Modern Variation and Alekhine Defense: Balogh Variation. In all, 26 named lines continue from it.
Written from the Lichess opening list and explorer. Know this line well? Write about it.
Write a description or report a mistake
How to answer 3…d6
4. Nf3 (Modern Variation) scores best for White: 50.2%, with White winning 47.2% and Black 46.8% of 1.3M games. The most played answer, 4. c4, scores lowest: 47.2% in 2.1M games. Stockfish's first choice is 4. c4.
Main answers: those played in at least 5% of these games. Score: White'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 has lost ground since 2016: 0.18% of Lichess games in 2025, down from 0.23% (its peak: 0.26% in 2018).
Numbers by year
| Year | Share of games | Games |
|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 0.23% | 81,184 |
| 2017 | 0.25% | 139,465 |
| 2018 | 0.26% | 204,533 |
| 2019 | 0.23% | 290,518 |
| 2020 | 0.21% | 626,003 |
| 2021 | 0.18% | 723,518 |
| 2022 | 0.18% | 693,781 |
| 2023 | 0.19% | 709,266 |
| 2024 | 0.19% | 678,653 |
| 2025 | 0.18% | 640,830 |
| 2026 (Jan–Apr) | 0.18% | 198,594 |
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 (3)
All 26 named lines that continue from here
No line matches.
- 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-3