Golovey's queen snatches the b-pawn for the better! There was no poison in the potion with the Black queen off the back rank.

For those who just can't resist 10.Qxf7+ instead, here's a Max Euwe training game: J van den Bosch vs Euwe, 1932

4...Bg4 5.Be2 are the most commonly played moves in this main line.

The teeny tiny sample size says 5...dxe5? 6.Nxe5 gives White a winning edge. Opening Explorer shows Black disadvantaged after other fifth tries as well. The computer does not like Alekhine's Defense for Black:

1) +0.39 (29 ply) 5...Nc6 6.c4 Nb6 7.exd6 exd6 8.O-O Be7 9.b3 Bf6 10.Nc3 O-O 11.Be3 Re8 12.h3 Bh5 13.Re1 a6 14.Rc1 d5 15.g4 Bg6 16.c5 Nc8 17.g5 Rxe3 18.fxe3 Bxg5 19.Bd3 f5 20.Nxg5 Qxg5+ 21.Kh1

2) +0.33 (28 ply) 5...e6 6.c4

3) +0.54 (28 ply) 5...Nb6 6.h3 Bf5 7.exd6 exd6 8.c4 Be7 9.Nc3 O-O 10.Be3 Bf6 11.g4 Be6 12.g5 Be7 13.d5 Bd7 14.h4 c5 15.dxc6 Nxc6 16.O-O Rc8 17.Re1 f6 18.Bd3 fxg5 19.hxg5 Ne5 20.Nxe5 dxe5

4) +0.63 (28 ply) 5...c6 6.exd6 exd6 7.c4 Nb6 8.O-O Be7 9.h3 Bh5 10.Qb3 O-O 11.Bf4 Re8 12.Nbd2 Bg6 13.Rae1 N8d7 14.Bd3 Bxd3 15.Qxd3 Nf8 16.d5 cxd5 17.cxd5 Ng6 18.Bg3 h6 19.Nc4 Nxc4 20.Qxc4

Here's how renowned author Lev Alburt handled the Black pieces back in the day with 5...e6 (most GMs still play 5...e6 in the main line): Gufeld vs Alburt, 1972

Alburt played this 5...e6 against a booked-up computer in Chicago, 1979: CHESS 4.7 vs Alburt, 1979

This 5...c6 experiment did not go well for Alburt: Beliavsky vs Alburt, 1975

Here's an early B04 "Alburt Variation" with 4...g6: Geller vs Alburt, 1975

The BLUE words on this website are links to other pages. Simply click on the BLUE name "Tamara Golovey" at the top to access more information about her. The link to her Wikipedia page is posted on her Biography page.

Readers may also click on the BLUE (B05) at the top to access ALL the games in Alekhine's Defense, Main Line. Therefore, it's not necessary to maintain large opening collections as FTB has done.

All chess openings have been assigned a Letter + Number code, so every opening from any game is accessible by the BLUE code link at the top. The code Letters are A, B, C, D, and E. The numbers range from 00-99. These cover all openings in chess. For example, the French Defense and all Open Games 1.e4 e5 are found under the "C" code.

By clicking on the BLUE (B05) link, I learned that Alekhine's Defense, Main Line was most popular in the 1970's and has steadily declined since. Vladimir Bagirov is the leading practitioner of this defense (according to the highest number of B05 games played in this database). There are 1536 games of B05 presently in the database, all listed there in chronological order. (Certainly, more games will be added in time and that number will grow.)