Chess Opening Theory/1. e4/1...Nf6/2. e5/2...Nd5/3. d4/3...d6/4. c4

Alekhine's defence B02 Alekhine's defence 4. c4 White grabs even more space and kicks the knight away. Doing so now, before any trades of the e-pawn, prevents 4...Nf6. Of the available squares, only b6 and b4 are not defended. However, 4...Nb4?? loses due to 5. Qa4+!, forking the knight, and Black must lose a piece. If 5...N4c6 to block the check, the knight is pinned and falls to 6. d5. 5...N8c6 to block the pin runs into 6. d5 too. A tricky line is 5...N8c6 6. d5 b5! 7. cxb5 Nd4, where 8. Qxb4?? Nc2+! wins Black the queen. White must start with 8. Na3 to control c2 before picking up the knight. Therefore, 4...Nb6 is the best move. Then, White must address the threat of ...dxe5. The chief options are to capture first (5. exd6, the exchange variation, eliciting 5...cxd6 and 5...exd6 equally frequently), or 5. f4 (to recapture on e5 with a pawn, the four pawns attack). White could still play 5. Nc3 intending to recapture that way (5...Bg4 6. exd6 transposing into the Alekhine variation of the main line). Presumably White does not wish to recapture with the d-pawn (e.g. 5. Nc3?! dxe5 6. dxe5 Qxd1+ 7. Nxd1 Nc6 with tempo --). Theory table 1.e4 Nf6 2.e5 Nd5 3.d4 d6 4.c4 4 ...Nb6 = References Alekhine's Defence