Caissa Codex
D22

Queen's Gambit Accepted: Alekhine Defense

Chess diagram: Queen's Gambit Accepted: Alekhine Defense after 3…a6

Type a move and press Enter: e4, Nf3, O-O, or from and to squares like g1f3 (e7e8q to promote). The board is also played with the mouse.

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Statistics from Lichess

130,888 games: White 50.6% / Draw 6.1% / Black 43.3%

The moves played next. Pick one to see it on the board.
Next moveGamesWhite / Draw / BlackW / D / B
44,48244K
44,06144K
Borisenko-Furman Variation 15,01415K
12,28812K
10,48010K
1,5701,570
1,1081,108
745745

Rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, from the Lichess opening explorer, updated Oct 22, 2026

Engine evaluation

+0.26 The position is about equal

Best play: 4. e3 c5 5. Bxc4 e6 6. O-O Nf6 7. dxc5 Bxc5 8. Qxd8+ Kxd8

Stockfish 19, depth 30, after the line's last move. Scores are in pawns, from White's side.

Overview

Queen's Gambit Accepted: Alekhine Defense (ECO D22, Closed & Semi-Closed Games) is a gambit in the Queen's Gambit Accepted: Normal Variation, reached after 1. d4 d5 2. c4 dxc4 3. Nf3 a6 (3 moves).

In 130,888 rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, White won 50.6%, Black 43.3% and 6.1% were drawn. White's most played move here is 4. a4, in 34% of those games.

It branches into 3 named variations; the most played are Queen's Gambit Accepted: Alekhine Defense, Haberditz Variation and Queen's Gambit Accepted: Alekhine Defense, Borisenko-Furman Variation.

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How to play against the Queen's Gambit Accepted: Alekhine Defense

4. e3 scores best for White: 55.7%, with White winning 51.9% and Black 40.5% of 44K games. The most played, 4. a4, scores 52.8% in 44K games, and 4. e4 scores lowest: 52.1%. Stockfish's first choice is also 4. e3.

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

Variations (3)

Other lines from the same position

Instead of 3…a6, the position after Queen's Gambit Accepted: Normal Variation also goes on to:

Cite this page

Caissa Codex. “Queen's Gambit Accepted: Alekhine Defense (D22)”. Lichess data as of 22 Oct 2026. https://chesscodex.org/openings/queens-gambit-accepted-alekhine-defense

https://chesscodex.org/openings/queens-gambit-accepted-alekhine-defense