Alekhine Defense: Exchange Variation
The Exchange Variation of the Alekhine Defense is 1.e4 Nf6 2.e5 Nd5 3.d4 d6 4.c4 Nb6 5.exd6. Read the guide
Play any move on the board to explore from there, or step through the line with ‹ › and the arrow keys.
Statistics from Lichess
2,481,728 games: White 46.2% / Draw 5.6% / Black 48.3%
| Next move | Games | White / Draw / BlackW / D / B |
|---|---|---|
| 1,355,6001.4M | ||
| 1,096,8811.1M | ||
| 23,91024K | ||
| 1,3161,316 | ||
| 1,1711,171 | ||
| 620620 | ||
| 582582 | ||
| 504504 |
Rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, from the Lichess opening explorer, updated Nov 1, 2026
Engine evaluation
+0.48 White is slightly better
Best play: 5... exd6 6. Nf3 Be7 7. h3 Bf6 8. Bd3 Nc6 9. Qe2+ Qe7 10. Be3
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 55% under 1400, 50% at 2200 and up and 57% in master games (wins plus half the draws).
| Players | Games | White / Draw / BlackW / D / B |
|---|---|---|
| Under 1400 | 29K | |
| 1400–1799 | 497K | |
| 1800–2199 | 1.7M | |
| 2200 and up | 391K | |
| Masters, over the board | 3,915 |
Master games
- Aronian, L. – Carlsen, M.
- Leko, P. – Ivanchuk, V.
- Leko, P. – Svidler, P.
- Ivanchuk, V. – Carlsen, M.
- Leko, P. – Ivanchuk, V.
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
Description
The Exchange Variation of the Alekhine Defense is 1.e4 Nf6 2.e5 Nd5 3.d4 d6 4.c4 Nb6 5.exd6. It is less ambitious than the Four Pawns Attack, 5.f4: White trades pawns and accepts a more modest space advantage.
Black's recapture
Black's main decision is how to take back on d6.
- 5...exd6 is the solid choice and leads to a fairly strategic position. It resembles the Exchange French, but Black has ways to unbalance it: ...Nc6 against almost any White set-up, so that a bishop on d3 can be hit by ...Nb4, then castling and ...Be7-f6, and after enough preparation the push ...d5. Black usually develops the bishop by ...Be7 and ...Bf6, because Bg5 can be annoying against a ...g6 and ...Bg7 set-up.
- 5...cxd6 is more ambitious and gives Black more pawns in the centre. Black usually aims at White's pawn on d4, and possibly c4: a fianchetto with ...g6 and ...Bg7, ...Bg4 to remove a knight on f3 that defends d4, and the knights on b6 and c6 bearing down on c4 and d4.
- 5...Qxd6 is possible, since the fork 6.c5 can be met by 6...Qe6+, but it is considered inferior because Black sooner or later has to deal with that threat.
The Voronezh Variation
A popular answer to 5...cxd6 is the Voronezh Variation, 6.Nc3 g6 7.Be3 Bg7 8.Rc1 O-O 9.b3, named after the Russian city where Grigory Sanakoev and others pioneered it. White delays kingside development so that Black has fewer targets, for example no knight on f3 to hit with ...Bg4. The main line is 9...e5 10.dxe5 dxe5 11.Qxd8 Rxd8 12.c5 N6d7, a forced retreat because 12...Nd5?? loses the knight to the pin 13.Rd1. John Emms recommended the Voronezh and Nigel Davies called it a big problem for Black, which led many players to choose 5...exd6 instead.
The numbers
On Lichess Black wins 48.3% of the 2.5 million games and White 46.2%. Under 1400 White leads 53.8% to 43.2%, but between 1800 and 2199 Black is ahead, 48.9% against 45.7%. From 2200 up the results are almost level, 46.5% for White against 46.0%. In 3,915 master games over the board White won 38.8%, Black 25.3%, and 35.9% were drawn.
Suggest an improvement or report a mistake
How to play against the Alekhine Defense: Exchange Variation
5…exd6 scores best for Black: 51.2%, with Black winning 48.3% and White 45.8% of 1.1M games. The most played answer, 5…cxd6, scores lowest: 51.2% in 1.4M games. Stockfish's first choice is also 5…exd6.
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
The Alekhine Defense: Exchange Variation peaked in 2018 at 0.13% of Lichess games and has slipped since: 0.093% in 2025.
Numbers by year
| Year | Share of games | Games |
|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 0.096% | 34,259 |
| 2017 | 0.11% | 62,665 |
| 2018 | 0.13% | 98,318 |
| 2019 | 0.11% | 143,137 |
| 2020 | 0.11% | 315,598 |
| 2021 | 0.091% | 356,195 |
| 2022 | 0.089% | 332,367 |
| 2023 | 0.092% | 344,318 |
| 2024 | 0.093% | 334,683 |
| 2025 | 0.093% | 321,173 |
| 2026 (Jan–Apr) | 0.09% | 98,990 |
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)
Sources
- History and theory: adapted from the Wikipedia article Alekhine's Defence, version of 9 October 2026, under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Results: Lichess opening explorer, figures collected from September to November 2026.
Cite this page
Caissa Codex. “Alekhine Defense: Exchange Variation (B03)”. Lichess data as of 1 Nov 2026. https://chesscodex.org/openings/alekhine-defense-exchange-variation