Lifetime Repertoires: Alekhine Defense

MoveTrainer® Opening course by GM Roeland Pruijssers (2538 FIDE)

🏆 Shortlisted for Best Opening Course for Black of 2022 🏆

Give them the center…
….And snatch it away!

The Alekhine Defense is one of the most underrated surprise weapons out there. Truth be told, few players have studied it.

Even if they have, this complete repertoire differs from other courses by showing you innovative and original ideas that are sure to give you imbalanced, dynamic, and complicated lines.

What kind of ideas are we talking about here?

♞ A fresh approach in the Four Pawns Attack pioneered by Magnus Carlsen- you'll prepare to fianchetto your dark-square bishop with 5…g6, forgoing taking in the center and adding pressure, an essentially new idea that opponents are not booked up against

♞ Against the Classic Variation (4.Nf3), White's most popular response, you will play 4…dxe5 and fianchetto your bishop with 5…g6, giving you long-range pressure on the center and the dark squares

♞ Avoid symmetrical positions by opting to take back with the challenging cxd6 in the Exchange Variation - you'll get a more dynamic and complicated position than you would with the usually recommended exd6

♞ Stop any of White's own surprises - there's nothing to fear against an early Bc4. Against the "sneaky 4.f4" you can launch an immediate center attack and get easy development and against the aggressive 4.a4, you'll hit back with …a5, giving your knight a nice outpost on b4

♞ Original ideas that avoid transposition if White tries to "play it safe" with 3.Nc3 by playing 3…e6, you keep a bit of tension and develop, forcing your opponent to think about what to do

…and any other line you can think of in the Alekhine.

What's more, this course is structured with a flexible three-tiered approach to learning in mind!

Depending on how comprehensive you want your Alekhine preparation to be, you can start off by studying just the 40 lines in the Quickstarter Guide giving you quick overview, then add the Important Variations handpicked and highlighted by the author, while keeping the remainder of the course as reference material. This may be perfect for those adding the Alekhine as a secondary opening. Or you may head in full throttle, studying the entire course right away, if you want to know all the ins and outs of the Alekhine and make it the cornerstone of your Black repertoire.

Two decades of success with the Alekhine!

The author, GM Roeland Pruijssers, has been playing the Alekhine for over two decades and to great success.

Now he wants to teach you the hidden secrets of this surprise weapon. This isn't just a rehash of ideas already written; Pruijssers wants to make sure you play original, cutting-edge lines, which are sound and engine-tested. It's an Alekhine course like no other.

Start surprising your opponents today with Lifetime Repertoires: Alekhine Defense.

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Course stats

For: black pieces

Recommended for: Intermediate players Advanced players Expert players

Language: English

Instruction: 77,988 words

Paid video: 26 hours and 27 minutes

Free video: 2 hours and 59 minutes

Quickstart variations: 40

Trainable variations: 656

Alternative variations: 43

Informational variations: 16

Avg. line depth: 14.83

Released on: Nov 28, 2022

Support level: High

Section: 🎓 Titled player

Lifetime Repertoires: Alekhine Defense

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Variation Details

2 x Introduction (1.00 avg depth)

40 x Quickstarter Guide (17.08 avg depth)

29 x 1.1) The Exchange Variation - 7.Be3 Bg7 8.Rc1 part 1 (17.21 avg depth)

29 x 1.2) The Exchange Variation - 7.Be3 Bg7 8.Rc1 part 2 (17.41 avg depth)

27 x 1.3) The Exchange Variation - 7.Nf3 Bg7 8.h3 part 1 (17.00 avg depth)

18 x 1.4) The Exchange Variation - 7.Nf3 Bg7 8.h3 part 2 (19.28 avg depth)

18 x 1.5) The Exchange Variation - 7.Nf3 Bg7 8.h3 part 3 (14.67 avg depth)

24 x 1.6) The Exchange Variation - 7.Nf3 Bg7 8.Be3 0-0 9.Be2 (16.83 avg depth)

16 x 1.7) The Exchange Variation - 7.Nf3 Bg7 8.Be3 0-0 9.Rc1 (15.69 avg depth)

15 x 1.8) The Exchange Variation - 7.h4 (14.60 avg depth)

26 x 1.9) The Exchange Variation - 6th move alternatives (15.69 avg depth)

19 x 1.10) The Exchange Variation - without c4 part 1 (15.84 avg depth)

12 x 1.11) The Exchange Variation - without c4 part 2 (16.17 avg depth)

10 x 1.12) The Exchange Variation - without c4 part 3 (12.90 avg depth)

31 x 2.1) The Four Pawns Attack - Part 1 (17.74 avg depth)

29 x 2.2) The Four Pawns Attack - Part 2 (16.83 avg depth)

22 x 2.3) The Four Pawns Attack - Early Deviations (13.59 avg depth)

24 x 3) The sneaky 4.f4 (11.50 avg depth)

30 x 4.1) White plays an early Bc4 - 4.Bc4 (13.60 avg depth)

14 x 4.2) White plays an early Bc4 - 3.Bc4 (9.29 avg depth)

21 x 5.1) The Practical 4.c5 - Part 1 (13.95 avg depth)

12 x 5.2) The Practical 4.c5 - Part 2 (11.08 avg depth)

20 x 5.3) The Practical 4.c5 - Part 3 (12.05 avg depth)

15 x 6) The Aggressive 4.a4 (11.13 avg depth)

18 x 7.1) The Classic Nf3 Variation - 8.Re1 O-O 9.Bb3 (16.39 avg depth)

21 x 7.2) The Classic Nf3 Variation - 8.Re1 O-O 9.Others (16.29 avg depth)

24 x 7.3) The Classic Nf3 Variation - Alternatives to 8.Re1 (16.29 avg depth)

10 x 7.4) The Classic Nf3 Variation - 7.Qf3?! (16.60 avg depth)

6 x 7.5) The Classic Nf3 Variation - 6.Bd3?! (14.17 avg depth)

7 x 7.6) The Classic Nf3 Variation - 6.Be2 (13.00 avg depth)

33 x 7.7) The Classic Nf3 Variation - 6.c4!? (15.88 avg depth)

32 x 7.8) The Classic Nf3 Variation - 5.dxe5!? (14.19 avg depth)

24 x 8) The Safe 3.Nc3 (10.54 avg depth)

14 x 9.1) Anti-Alekhine 2.Nc3 - 3.exd5 Nxd5 4.Bc4 (12.64 avg depth)

26 x 9.2) Anti-Alekhine 2.Nc3 - 3.exd5 Nxd5 4.Nf3 (13.42 avg depth)

14 x 9.3) Anti-Alekhine 2.Nc3 - 3.e5 d4 4.exf6 (12.93 avg depth)

13 x 9.4) Anti-Alekhine 2.Nc3 - 3.e5 d4 4.Nce2 (10.38 avg depth)

10 x 9.5) Anti-Alekhine - Offbeat 2nd moves (10.10 avg depth)

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