Chess Opening Theory/1. e4/1...Nf6/2. e5/2...Nd5/3. d4/3...d6/4. c4/4...Nb6/5. f4

Alekhine's Defence
a b c d e f g h
8a8 black rookb8 black knightc8 black bishopd8 black queene8 black kingf8 black bishopg8 black kingh8 black rook8
7a7 black pawnb7 black pawnc7 black pawnd7 black kinge7 black pawnf7 black pawng7 black pawnh7 black pawn7
6a6 black kingb6 black knightc6 black kingd6 black pawne6 black kingf6 black kingg6 black kingh6 black king6
5a5 black kingb5 black kingc5 black kingd5 black kinge5 white pawnf5 black kingg5 black kingh5 black king5
4a4 black kingb4 black kingc4 white pawnd4 white pawne4 black kingf4 white pawng4 black kingh4 black king4
3a3 black kingb3 black kingc3 black kingd3 black kinge3 black kingf3 black kingg3 black kingh3 black king3
2a2 white pawnb2 white pawnc2 black kingd2 black kinge2 black kingf2 black kingg2 white pawnh2 white pawn2
1a1 white rookb1 white knightc1 white bishopd1 white queene1 white kingf1 white bishopg1 white knighth1 white rook1
a b c d e f g h
Position in Forsyth-Edwards Notation (FEN)
Moves: 1. e4 Nf6 2. e5 Nd5 3. d4 d6 4. c4 Nb6 5. f4

Alekhine's Defence - Four Pawns Attack

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White has built a huge pawn center. Black will try to destroy it from a distance. It would be a good idea to exchange the d pawn so as to weaken the king side : 5...dxe5.

A more quiet line is : 5...Bf5, developing the bishop. 5...g6 is also a line which has been played by Magnus Carlsen - on g7 the bishop will exert pressure along the long diagonal, and helps to the attack against d4 and e5. It also gives White other attacking plans, such as h4-h5. 5...g5!? is an objectively unsound but creative idea, since 6.fxg5? dxe5 7.dxe5 Qxd1+ 8.Kxd1 Bg7 followed by ...Nc6 and ...Nd7 will win back the pawn with a much stronger structure & development, but declining it often allows White an advantage.

Theory table

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For explanation of theory tables, see theory table and for notation, see algebraic notation.

1.e4 Nf6 2.e5 Nd5 3.d4 d6 4.c4 Nb6 5.f4

5
...
dxe5
=
...
Bf5
=
...
g6
=
...
g5
=

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References

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