Alekhines Defence

[Sonic]

I'm a Beginer and I have a question about alekhines defence. Ok...so it goes

1. e4 Nf6
2. e5 Nd5

...what if he playes 3. c4 ( I can play nb4 or nb6) and if I do doesn't that give my opponent tempo and control over the center? So whats the point of alekhines then?

[David]

The point of the Alekhine Defense is, to provoke White to push his pawns. Yes it is true, he has a lot of pawns in the centre then for free, but... he still has no control over the centre. Having pawns there doesn't mean you control the centre. The idea of black is, to later attack those pawn and neutralize them and fight for the centre. It was a modern idea by Alekhine to provoke White to push his pawns but it seems to work (sometimes at least).

[xXFucHsXx]

I don't think that the Alekhine Defense is an opening for a beginner. You had to learn a lot ... this opening isn't easy.
Why not 1....e5?!

After
1. e4 Nf6
2. e5 Nd5
I play
3.c4 Nb6
4.d4 d6
5.exd6 ... the exchange variation.

After this, I don't like the position of black very much.

[Crossroad]

I don't like that variation either, but as black you can recapture with the c-pawn, play g6, Bg7, Nc6 and later fight for the centre with d5 or e5. I think it's not too bad, because you have an easy development (Bc8 can go to g4), no bishop is locked behind a pawn-chain and white has only a space-advantage but not more

[xXFucHsXx]

I don't like that variation either, but as black you can recapture with the c-pawn, play g6, Bg7, Nc6 and later fight for the centre with d5 or e5. I think it's not too bad, because you have an easy development (Bc8 can go to g4), no bishop is locked behind a pawn-chain and white has only a space-advantage but not more

after 5...cxd6 white can play the tricky move 6.d5!?. Now black can't play g6 because of Qd4.

[Crossroad]

d5 with the idea Qd4 looks interesting. It seems black has two options then:
a) N8b7 and later g6 (if Qd4 then Nf6)
b) or g6 Qd4 Rg8 and later Bg7, Na6 (and ideas like Nc5 [c5 is weak due to the d5-advance] or Na4 pressuring on b2).

In a real game I probably would play N8b7, but I don't like such passive positions