Ragozin Defense, Alekhine Variation

The Alekhine Variation answers the Ragozin's 4...Bb4 with an immediate queen check from a4 rather than the pin 5. Bg5 or the exchange 5. cxd5. The check is meant less as an attack than as a way to shape Black's development. Black almost always interposes 5...Nc6. The knight also covers the b4-bishop, which the queen on a4 eyes along the fourth rank, but it stands in front of the c-pawn. That makes the freeing ...c5 break, a standard resource in the Ragozin, harder to arrange. White then tucks the queen back to a more central post.

The usual course is 6. e3 O-O, followed by either 7. Qc2 or 7. Bd2, giving a calm middlegame in which White keeps a compact center and Black relies on piece pressure against c3 and e4. The alternative interpositions 5...Bd7 and 5...c6 are rare, and White has scored heavily against both in online play. The engine regards the position as roughly balanced and ranks 5...Nc6 first. In practice, White's results are somewhat better than Black's.