Alekhine's Defence starts with the audacious 1.e4 Nf6 (ECO B02): Black attacks the e4 pawn with the knight straight away. The hypermodern idea is to provoke White into pushing pawns (e5, d4, c4) and then attack that sprawling centre and prove it weak.
After 2.e5 the knight retreats to d5 and White gains space, chasing it with pawns. Black goes into a cramped position deliberately, counting on counter-blows and on the «overextended» centre being reassessed.
The opening is named after the world champion Alexander Alekhine, who brought it into practice. Alekhine's Defence is risky, but it produces unusual, combative play against 1.e4.
Set it up on the board, move the pieces around and copy the FEN - or open the full walkthrough of the opening in a separate article.
Drag a piece onto the board, or click a piece and then click the squares. The cross beside the pieces sweeps every piece of that colour off the board, and a single piece can be dragged off the edge.
The pieces will be arranged into the chosen pattern.
It is the mating side to move. Find mate in one.
Openings, endgame positions and breakthrough studies - the set-up appears on the board.
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