Alekhine Defence

The idea

A daring, hypermodern reply to 1.e4. Black ignores the centre and instead pokes White's e-pawn with the knight, inviting the pawns forward. The plan is to let White build an impressive-looking pawn front, then attack and undermine it from the wings — if the centre overextends, it becomes a target rather than a strength.

Your plan (Black)

Provoke the pawns forward, retreat the knight to safe squares, and then strike at the overextended centre with breaks like ...d6 and ...c5 or ...f6, proving the pawns are weak and winning them as targets.

Heading into the middlegame

The Alekhine is a deliberate provocation: you let White build a big pawn front so you can demolish it. Retreat the knight to safety (Nd5–b6), then chip at the centre with ...d6 and ...c5 (and sometimes ...dxe5 or ...f6), trading off and hitting the e5/d4 pawns. Get the pieces behind the breaks — ...Bg7 or ...Bg4/...Bf5, ...Nc6 — and prove the advanced pawns are weak. If White plays modestly you equalise easily; if White overextends (the Four Pawns Attack), strike fast with ...c5/...dxe5 before the centre stabilises.