Alekhine's Defence: Chase Variation
The Chase: the c-pawn hunts the knight — spatial gain versus loose squares.
Few openings have shaped modern chess as much as Alekhine's Defence: Chase Variation. It has decided world championships, club trophies and late-night blitz games alike.
After 4.c5 the position resolves into an open centre — the central pawns have largely been traded, so open files and piece activity decide the game rather than pawn play.
The Chase Variation is one of the defining branches of the Alekhine's Defence — the line you reach when both players want the full fight rather than a quiet draw.
The moves
After 4. c5 — Alekhine's Defence: Chase Variation main line
Position breakdown
A factual read of the position after the main line — the files, the centre, the pawn structure and king safety that decide how the middlegame is played. These are computed from the actual board, not generic advice.
Files
Centre control
Open centre
The d4/d5/e4/e5 squares — who occupies the centre decides how open the game becomes.
Pawn skeleton
Pawns only — the structure that explains every open file and majority at a glance.
Material level
Queenside pawns 3–3
Kingside pawns 3–3
Development
No minor pieces developed yet
Knight active
King safety
White king e1
Uncastled — take care
Black king e8
Uncastled — take care
Computed from the final position of the main line above — 7 plies, black to move.
Strategic ideas
Ideas for White
Grab space and hold it: the Four Pawns or Chase variations push Black back — but every pawn move is a target.
Ideas for Black
Harass the centre with ...c5, ...dxe5 and ...with precise ...c5/...Bg7 timing and piece pressure on d4/e5.
Plans & pawn structures
- 1In this open centre, development speed and king safety trump material — get castled, connect the rooks onto the open lines, and look for tactics against the less-coordinated side.
- 2Trade correctly: before every exchange ask which piece benefits from the resulting square colours and pawn structure.
- 3Watch the pawn breaks — both yours and your opponent's. In these structures the player who times the central break better usually wins the game.
Typical middlegame structures
The main line leads to an open centre — the central pawns have largely been traded, so open files and piece activity decide the game rather than pawn play. No files have opened yet, so this is a manoeuvring struggle: improve your pieces and prepare the pawn break that will open the position on your terms.
Traps & tactical motifs
After 4.Bc4 Nb6 5.Bb3, careless ...invites the d5-knight's exposure.
How to Play Against the Chase Variation
- In this open position White must match development tempo for tempo — fall behind on castling and coordination and the open lines turn against you at once.
Reaches the same position as
These openings arrive at the very same board position by a different move order — a transposition. Knowing them lets you steer between systems and recognise when your opponent has walked into familiar territory.
Masters & history
Study plan & who it's for
Solidly intermediate. The main lines require real study, but the payoff is positions you can play for a lifetime. Best investment for Black players around 1400–2000.
Play through the main line above until the piece setup feels natural.
Learn the two or three critical pawn breaks for both sides.
Drill one variation at a time — always connecting moves to plans.