Alekhine Defence: free opening course

Key ideas

• Let White's pawns advance, then attack them. The pawn on e5 is your main target.
• Keep the knight safe. It usually retreats from d5 to b6, where it watches c4 and d5.
• Against 4.Nf3 the c8 bishop often pins the knight from g4. Trading it on f3 weakens White's grip on d4 and e5.
• Against a big pawn centre, hit it with pieces. The knight goes to c6, the bishop to f5, and the f-pawn breaks later.
• Know the f7 tricks. A white bishop sacrifice on f7 often fails, but a knight landing on f7 can win if you are careless.

The 6 variations in the course

• Modern Variation: 4.Nf3 Bg4: 1. e4 Nf6 2. e5 Nd5 3. d4 d6 4. Nf3 Bg4 5. Be2 e6 6. O-O Be7 … — White defends e5 with the knight, and Black pins it from g4. Black builds a solid chain with ...e6, castles and puts pressure on d4. Later Black trades the bishop on f3 and plays against White's centre.
• Alburt Variation: 4.Nf3 g6: 1. e4 Nf6 2. e5 Nd5 3. d4 d6 4. Nf3 g6 5. Bc4 Nb6 6. Bb3 Bg7 … — Black fianchettoes the bishop on g7, where it hits the e5 pawn from afar. Against 5.Bc4 the knight goes to b6. Black castles, plays ...Nc6 and ...a5, and trades in the centre to free the pieces.
• Four Pawns Attack: 4.c4 Nb6 5.f4: 1. e4 Nf6 2. e5 Nd5 3. d4 d6 4. c4 Nb6 5. f4 dxe5 6. fxe5 Nc6 … — White pushes four pawns to the centre. Black trades on e5 and attacks d4 with ...Nc6, develops the bishop to f5 and castles. Then the f-pawn break hits the centre, and Black's pieces become active.
• Exchange Variation: 4.c4 Nb6 5.exd6: 1. e4 Nf6 2. e5 Nd5 3. d4 d6 4. c4 Nb6 5. exd6 cxd6 6. Nc3 g6 … — White trades on d6 and keeps pawns on c4 and d4. Black takes back with the c-pawn, fianchettoes the bishop and strikes with the e-pawn. After the queen trade Black's rook owns the d-file.
• Chase Variation: 3.c4 Nb6 4.c5: 1. e4 Nf6 2. e5 Nd5 3. c4 Nb6 4. c5 Nd5 5. Bc4 e6 6. d4 d6 … — White chases the knight with the c-pawn twice. The knight returns to d5, and Black protects it with ...e6. Then Black attacks the advanced pawns with ...d6, develops and castles with a solid game.
• 2.Nc3 d5: the Scandinavian Variation: 1. e4 Nf6 2. Nc3 d5 3. e5 Nfd7 4. d4 e6 5. Nf3 c5 6. dxc5 Nc6 … — White defends e4 with the knight instead of pushing. Black strikes with ...d5. After 3.e5 the knight retreats to d7, and Black builds a French-like chain and attacks it with ...c5 and ...f6.

Traps you will learn (2)

• 5...Nd7?? 6.Nxf7: the knight sacrifice — In the Larsen Variation, after 4...dxe5 5.Nxe5, the move 5...Nd7 looks like a normal way to chase the knight. But 6.Nxf7 drags Black's king out, and the queen check follows. Play 5...c6 or 5...g6 instead.
• 6.Bxf7+? Kxf7 7.Ng5+: the failed sacrifice — In the Alburt Variation, White sometimes sacrifices the bishop on f7 and checks with the knight. But the king goes to g8, and after the queen comes to f3, one exact defence stops the mate. Black is a piece up.

How the opening courses work

Each course teaches an opening in a few main variations. For every move you read why it is played, which other moves are good, and which tempting moves are mistakes and why. Each course also shows the traps of the opening: the ones you can set and the ones to avoid.

After a lesson you play the moves yourself in a drill. The lines you learn go into your review, which brings them back when you are about to forget them (spaced repetition). 30 line courses add many short lines per opening, a few new ones a day, and every named opening, more than 3,800 lines, has a lesson of its own.