Alekhine Defense: what to play after e5?

In the Alekhine Defense (ECO B02), Black faces an immediate attack on the knight on f6 following White's pawn push. The standard and overwhelmingly preferred continuation is Nd5, which centralizes the knight rather than retreating it into passive territory. By advancing, Black invites White's pawns forward with the intention of later undermining White's overextended center.

The Standard Continuation: Nd5

The move Nd5 represents the foundational idea of the Alekhine Defense. It appears in 87.4% of games in the database (2.18M recorded) and yields an engine evaluation of +0.65. Instead of abandoning central influence, the knight takes up an active post on d5. An illustrative continuation shows the characteristic clash in the center: Nd5 d4 d6 c4 Nb6 f4, where White establishes a broad pawn front while Black prepares to challenge it.

Retreats and Sidelines

Other knight retreats exist but grant White a clearer structural advantage. Black chooses Ng8 in 5.0% of games (125K recorded), returning the knight to its starting square with an evaluation of +0.93; an illustrative path is Ng8 d4 d6 Nf3 dxe5 Nxe5. The forward thrust Ne4 is tried in 5.2% of games (129K recorded, eval +1.36), leading into variations such as Ne4 d4 e6 Nh3 h6 f3. Far rarer tries such as c5 (589 recorded games) avoid moving the knight entirely.

Defective Alternatives

Ignoring the attacked piece results in immediate material loss and severe evaluations. The gambit attempt Nc6 is recorded in 0.2% of games (4.7K recorded) and evaluates to +3.30 after Nc6 exf6 e5 d4 Nxd4 Ne2. Similarly, d5 evaluates to +3.60 via d5 exf6 gxf6 d4 e5 Nc3. These deviations leave Black down a piece without sufficient compensation.