A repertoire based on his games in ChessBase's 2020 Mega database includes some offbeat lines as well as more-familiar openings.
Even if you do not want to adopt the full repertoire it might well be worth considering the surprise stuff.
Even if you do not want to adopt the full repertoire it might well be worth considering the surprise stuff.
White
Play 1.e4 with the aim of reaching a mainline Spanish by 1...e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Be7, but then continue with the Worrall Attack: 6.Qe2. After 6...b5 7.Bb3 Alekhine's opponents usually played 7...d6 8.c3 0-0, whereupon Alekhine won all three games in which he attacked on the queenside with 9.a4. Today 7...0-0 is more popular. Alekhine only faced it three times - winning twice with 8.a4 and once with 8.c3.
Against the Open Variation: 5...Nxe4 6.d4 b5 7.Bb3 d5 8.dxe5 Be6 Alekhine scored 68% with 9.c3.
Against the Steinitz Deferred: 4...d6 I suggest playing 5.0-0, which was Alekhine's most frequent (just) reply and transposes after 5...Nf6 to a more common move-order from his games: 4...Nf6 5.0-0 d6. Continue 6.c3 followed by a quick d4.
He played 4.d4 against the Steinitz: 3...d6 and 4.0-0 against the Berlin: 3...Nf6. Against the Classical: 3...Bc5 he played 4.c3.
Against the Petrov: 2...Nf6 he scored 86% with Steinitz's favourite 3.d4, and against the Philidor: 2...d6 he used the same move to score 90%.
Against the French Classical: 1...e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 he liked Adolf Anderssen's attacking line 4.Bg5 Be7 5.Bxf6!? Bxf6 6.Nf3, holding the tempo-gaining e5 in reserve.
Against the MacCutcheon: 4...Bb4 he won all three games in which he played the unusual line 5.Nge2 dxe4 6.a3 Be7 7.Bxf6 and 8.Nxe4.
Against Burn's Variation: 4...dxe4 5.Nxe4 Be7 he scored 83% with the mainline 6.Bxf6 Bxf6 7.Nf3.
Against Rubinstein's Variation: 3...dxe4 he scored best with quick development, the commonest line in his games running 4.Nxe4 Nd7 5.Nf3 Ngf6 6.Bd3.
Against the Winawer: 3...Bb4 he scored 79% with a line similar to his favourite against the MacCutcheon, ie 4.Nge2 dxe4 5.a3.
Against the Sicilian: 1...c5 he scored heavily in the lines 2.Nf3 d6 and 2.Nf3 Nc6 with the Open Variation: 3.d4, but after 2.Nf3 e6 he did much better with the somewhat unusual 3.c4 Nc6 4.Nc3.
Alekhine's games against the Caro-Kann: 1...c6 2.d4 d5 split almost evenly between 3.exd5 and 3.Nc3, but he scored 10 percentage points better with the latter.
Against his own defence, 1...Nf6 he scored 73% with 2.Nc3, happily meeting 2...e5 with 2.Bc4!?, and 2...d5 with 3.exd5 Nxd5 4.Bc4.
The only other defence to 1.e4 he met all often was the Scandinavian: 1...d5 with 2.exd5 Qxd5 3.Nc3 Qa5, which he usually met with 4.Nf3, which was also his commonest choice against 3...Qd8.
Black v 1.e4
Against the mainline Spanish: 1...e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Alekhine varied his approach but scored best with 5...Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 d6 8.c3 0-0. After 9.h3 he won all three games that went down what is still very much the main line: 9...Na5 10.Bc2 c5 11.d4 Qc7. After the chief alternative, 9.d4 he scored 62% with 9...Bg4.
He scored heavily against the Exchange Variation: 4.Bxc6, including one-and-a-half points out of two in the modern line 4...dxc6 5.0-0 Bg4 6.h3 h5 7.d3 Qf6.
He met the Italian Game: 3.Bc4 with 3...Bc5. He faced 4.c3 seven times, winning all seven games by keeping the position closed with 4...Qe7 or 4...Bb6. He always played 4...d6 against 4.d3, 4.0-0 and 4.Nc3. He only faced the Evans: 4.b4 twice, winning with both 4...Bxb4 5.c3 Ba5 and 4...Bxb4 5.c3 Bc5.
Against 3.Nc3 he scored 80% with the Three Knights Variation: 3...Bb4.
Against the Scotch: 3.d4 exd4 4.Nxd4 he varied almost equally between 4...Bc5 and 4...Nf6, scoring heavily with both, and against the Ponziani: 3.c3 he replied 3...d5.
Against the King's Gambit: 2.f4 he scored 83% by accepting it with 2...exf4 but varied his play after 3.Nf3. The one time he faced 3.Bc4 he replied 3...d5, which was also one of his replies to 3.Nf3.
Against the Bishop's Opening: 2.Bc4 he played 2...Nf6, and he declined the Danish: 2.d4 exd4 3.c3 with 3...d5 or 3...d3.
Black v 1.d4 and Others
Alekhine scored 75% with the Nimzo-Indian: 1...Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4, rising to 80% when he met the main reply in his day, 4.Qc2, with 4...d5. Against 4.e3 he scored even more heavily with 4...0-0, and he usually met 4.Qb3 with 4...c5. Other fourth moves are too rare in his games to give a repertoire recommendation.
After 3.Nf3 Alekhine also scored 75% with the Queen's Indian: 3...b6, nearly always continuing 4...Bb7, including against 4.g3.
Against 2.Nf3 he scored even better, 78%, by going for a Queen's Indian set-up with 2...b6.
He twice faced the Trompowsky: 2.Bg5, winning both games after replying 2...d5.
Against 1.Nf3 he scored 80% with 1...d5, meeting the Réti: 2.c4 with 2...d4.
Against the English:1 c4 he usually played ...e5, either immediately or after 1...Nf6. If White fianchettoed with an early g3, he opened the position with a quick ...d5.
Here is Alekhine playing his early ...b6 for France against Italy at the 1931 Olympiad.
Stefano Rosselli del Turco - Alekhine
4th Olympiad (Prague) 1931
Queen's Fianchetto Defence
1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 b6
Carlsen and Nakamura are among modern grandmasters who have played this.
3.g3
The most-popular response, and it has the seal of approval of having been Kasparov's choice when he faced this line as White.
3...Bb7 4.Bg2 c5!?
More popular today is 4...e6, but then White can switch into a mainline Queen's Indian with 4.c4.
5.dxc5
This was first played by Levenfish in 1924, according to Mega20, but GMs have also tried 5.0-0, 5.c3, 5.c4 and 5.e3.
5...bxc5 6.c4 g6 7.b3 Bg7 8.Bb2 0-0 9.0-0
*****
*****
*****
*****
*****
9...d6
Nimzowitsch beat Rubinstein with 9...Nc6 10.Nc3 a5!? at Marienbad 1925 while Tal played 9...e6 10.Nc3 Qe7 in a 1977 draw with Pfleger.
10.Nc3 Nc6
This may have been a novelty. Two years earlier Capablanca beat Monticelli at Barcelona with 10...Ne4 (Tartakower awarded this an exclamation mark) 11.Qc1 Nxc3 12.Bxc3 Bxc3 13.Qxc3 a5.
11.Qd2 Nb4 12.Rfd1
Wrong rook? Yes according to Komodo11.01 but No according to Stockfish11.
12...Rb8 13.Nh4!?
Weakening the king's position seems a little strange, especially as after ...
13...Bxg2 14.Kxg2
... Black's remaining bishop, although technically it could be called bad (Black has central pawns on dark squares), is at least as active as White's remaining bishop. However Rosselli's idea is to set up a Maroczy Bind in which he does not want a bad light-square bishop.
14...Qd7 15.f3 Rfd8
Black could have saved a tempo on the game continuation by playing 15...Rbd8!
16.e4 e5!?
The backward d pawn will be covered by a knight transferring to d4.
17.Bc1 Nc6 18.Qf2 Nd4
This knight cannot be swopped off by White without giving Black a protected passed pawn.
19.Be3 Rf8
The rook will be useful here to support the pawn lever ...f5.
20.Qd2 Ne8 21.Bh6 Nc7 22.Rf1 f6
22...f5!?
23.Bxg7 Qxg7 24.Kh1 f5 25.Ng2 f4 26.g4?!
The problem with this move is it creates a lever for ...h5, so White should probably have preferred 26.gxf4 when 26...exf4 leaves the knight on d4 less stable.
26...g5!?
This gives White a lever for h4, but Black is better placed than White to exploit an open h file.
27.Kg1 h5 28.h3 Qh6 29.Ne1 Kf7 30.Rf2 hxg4 31.hxg4 Rh8
Black already threatens mate in one. This is easily parried but Black can get reinforcements to the kingside quicker than White.
32.Rh2 Qg7 33.Rd1 Rxh2 34.Qxh2 Rh8 35.Qg2 Rh4 36.Rxd4!?
Desperation but, for example, 36.Nc2 Qh8 37.Nxd4 cxd4 38.Ne2 Rh3 leaves Black well on top after, say, 39.a3 Ne6 40.b4 Qh4 when the threat of ...d3 is very hard to meet, for instance 41.a4 d3! 42.Rxd3 Qe1+ 43.Qf1 Rh1+.
36...exd4 37.Ne2 d3! 38.Nxd3 Qa1+ 39.Nec1 Ne6 40.Qb2 Qxb2 41.Nxb2 0-1
Here is Alekhine playing his early ...b6 for France against Italy at the 1931 Olympiad.
Stefano Rosselli del Turco - Alekhine
4th Olympiad (Prague) 1931
Queen's Fianchetto Defence
1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 b6
Carlsen and Nakamura are among modern grandmasters who have played this.
3.g3
The most-popular response, and it has the seal of approval of having been Kasparov's choice when he faced this line as White.
3...Bb7 4.Bg2 c5!?
More popular today is 4...e6, but then White can switch into a mainline Queen's Indian with 4.c4.
5.dxc5
This was first played by Levenfish in 1924, according to Mega20, but GMs have also tried 5.0-0, 5.c3, 5.c4 and 5.e3.
5...bxc5 6.c4 g6 7.b3 Bg7 8.Bb2 0-0 9.0-0
 |
| What would you play as Black? |
*****
*****
*****
*****
9...d6
Nimzowitsch beat Rubinstein with 9...Nc6 10.Nc3 a5!? at Marienbad 1925 while Tal played 9...e6 10.Nc3 Qe7 in a 1977 draw with Pfleger.
10.Nc3 Nc6
This may have been a novelty. Two years earlier Capablanca beat Monticelli at Barcelona with 10...Ne4 (Tartakower awarded this an exclamation mark) 11.Qc1 Nxc3 12.Bxc3 Bxc3 13.Qxc3 a5.
11.Qd2 Nb4 12.Rfd1
Wrong rook? Yes according to Komodo11.01 but No according to Stockfish11.
12...Rb8 13.Nh4!?
Weakening the king's position seems a little strange, especially as after ...
13...Bxg2 14.Kxg2
... Black's remaining bishop, although technically it could be called bad (Black has central pawns on dark squares), is at least as active as White's remaining bishop. However Rosselli's idea is to set up a Maroczy Bind in which he does not want a bad light-square bishop.
14...Qd7 15.f3 Rfd8
Black could have saved a tempo on the game continuation by playing 15...Rbd8!
16.e4 e5!?
The backward d pawn will be covered by a knight transferring to d4.
17.Bc1 Nc6 18.Qf2 Nd4
This knight cannot be swopped off by White without giving Black a protected passed pawn.
19.Be3 Rf8
The rook will be useful here to support the pawn lever ...f5.
20.Qd2 Ne8 21.Bh6 Nc7 22.Rf1 f6
22...f5!?
23.Bxg7 Qxg7 24.Kh1 f5 25.Ng2 f4 26.g4?!
The problem with this move is it creates a lever for ...h5, so White should probably have preferred 26.gxf4 when 26...exf4 leaves the knight on d4 less stable.
26...g5!?
This gives White a lever for h4, but Black is better placed than White to exploit an open h file.
27.Kg1 h5 28.h3 Qh6 29.Ne1 Kf7 30.Rf2 hxg4 31.hxg4 Rh8
Black already threatens mate in one. This is easily parried but Black can get reinforcements to the kingside quicker than White.
32.Rh2 Qg7 33.Rd1 Rxh2 34.Qxh2 Rh8 35.Qg2 Rh4 36.Rxd4!?
Desperation but, for example, 36.Nc2 Qh8 37.Nxd4 cxd4 38.Ne2 Rh3 leaves Black well on top after, say, 39.a3 Ne6 40.b4 Qh4 when the threat of ...d3 is very hard to meet, for instance 41.a4 d3! 42.Rxd3 Qe1+ 43.Qf1 Rh1+.
36...exd4 37.Ne2 d3! 38.Nxd3 Qa1+ 39.Nec1 Ne6 40.Qb2 Qxb2 41.Nxb2 0-1
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