Fix the queen's post
Choose one retreat square for the queen after 4...Qxd5 and stick with it. White gets tempo on it in these lines, and that is where your early errors come from.
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Alekhine's Defense
Your Scandinavian with an early queen trade: equal positions, equal results.
Score49%−1% vs your average
Win chance after move 1250%−2% vs your average
Blunders per game1.33+0.11 vs your average
Clock left at move 102:31−8s vs your average
1
23
4
5
6
7
h8g
f
ed
c
ba1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Nf6 3. Nc3 Nxd5 4. Nxd5 Qxd5 5. Nf3
What it says about you
This is not an Alekhine at all. It is your Scandinavian (1.e4 d5 2.exd5 Nf6) after White plays 3.Nc3 and swaps on d5, which Chess.com files under the Alekhine. You play the recapture without worrying about an early queen in the centre, which fits your preference for active, direct positions.
How you play it
These positions stay balanced: a win chance of 50.2 at move 12 and 50.4 at move 20, below your 54.1 baseline at move 20. You are slow in the opening (151s at move 10) and make a lot of early errors (0.69 per game), with 12 of 53 decided losses in the opening. Games are short at 34.4 moves. You score 48.7% overall, better than your broader Scandinavian (45.2%), and 53.8% over the last 13 games. You converted 53 of 86 winning positions (62%).
Last 90 days: 13 games, 54% score.
What you're missing
- 01
Greedy captures: 12...Bxb2 from a 66% position missed White's combination and dropped you to 18. In this line White is usually ahead in development, so pawn grabs are dangerous.
- 02
Positional drift early: 8...e5 instead of 8...Qf6 went from 55 to 29 with nearly a full clock (175.8s). Opening the centre while your queen is still exposed helps White.
- 03
Missed tactics caused 16 losses and hung pieces 11. You also allowed mate at move 27 (Rg8 instead of Qe3+) from 75% winning.
- 04
Your win chance stays flat between move 12 and move 20 (50.2 to 50.4), so you are not building on your setup the way you do in other openings.
How to improve it
- 01
After 4...Qxd5, a quick setup is ...Bg4, ...Nc6, ...O-O-O to pile onto d4, or ...Bf5, ...e6, ...c6 for something solid. Pick one and play it fast.
- 02
White will try to gain time on your queen with Be3, c4, Nb5 or Bd2. Put your queen on a safe square early (d8, a5 or d6) rather than keeping it in the centre.
- 03
Delay ...e5 until your pieces are developed and your king is safe. The 8...e5 slip shows that opening the centre early hurts the side that is behind in development.
- 04
Before capturing a pawn such as b2, check what White gets in return: an open file, tempo on your queen, or a back-rank trick.
Where it goes wrong
Your losses in this opening, by where and how the decisive mistake happened.
Phase of the decisive mistake
What the mistake was
Variations you reach
| Scandinavian Variation | 114 | 49% |
Winning positions converted here: 62% (53 of 86).
Recent mistakes in this opening
Your move in red, Stockfish's in black.
12
34
5
6
7h8g
f
edc
ba
vs leanfran (1503) · 02-09-26 →
1
23
4
5
6
7h8g
fed
c
b
avs migargol (1511) · 02-09-26 →
1
23
4
56
7
h8
g
f
edc
ba
vs migargol (1511) · 02-09-26 →
1
23
4
5
6
7h8
gfe
dc
b
avs brorelax (1551) · 25-08-26 →
Next steps
Stop grabbing b2 pawns
Before any pawn capture on the wing, count White's threats first. 12...Bxb2 cost you 48 points.
Train mate-in-2 patterns
Do 10 mate-in-2 puzzles a day for a week. Allowing mate from 75% winning is an expensive way to find that gap.
Drill it
Puzzles built from your own mistakes in the Alekhine's Defense, and every game you've played in it.