Alekhine's Defense = questionable?

and what about Brooklin's variation ? 1.e2e4 Ng8f6 2.e4e5 Nf6g8 (?)

The only opening I really know how to play as black. It's a good opening if you know what you're doing. I don't recommend it for those looking for an easy opening solution. 

Short is a better player than Alburt but not by that much and Alburt is a very experienced alekhines player and has played it with a lot of success at a high level. Fischer used it as a surprise weapon and often played Larsen lines that have been found to be weak but playable against the correct attack. I bought Alberts book and tried Alekhines defence but there are a number of ways white can play and maintain a strong advantage not just in main lines. No top player uses it regularly, it's a sideline for a reason. It does give very particular types of position however and suits players who play reti type white positions as often black plays g6 and c5 breaks.

This an old topic, but I'll add a recent word... at a lower level the Alekhine is surprisingly useful as an unexpected twist in (say) Rapid Games. The common lines in my experience are e4, Nf6, Nc3, d4, exd, Nxd4. This is OK for Black and gets better if, as sometimes happens, you get NxN, QxN. The position is akin to the Scandanavian, but with no NC1 White cannot hit the Q.  A second line deviates by playing 3 e5. After Nd7, d4, then e6 you get an Advance French without having to face either the boring Exchange or the complex Winawer. The third line is e5 straight up and after Nd5, d4 you can play Nb6 immediately and follow up with d5. Unless White takes e.p. (which many are reluctant to do) you again end up in a variant of the Advance French. I'm happy playing the Advance French so this is a useful little side line...

I think Bobby Fischer's record with the Alekhine should be enough to prove its soundness. Fischer played it as a wildcard, and I think it fits that role as a second option apart from the sicilian.

I've played the Caro Kann, about 3 kinds of Sicilians, the Nimzowitsch Defense (1 ... Nc6), and the Alekhine and my rating in the last 3 months on Lichess has gone to 1960 largely due to the Alekhine Defense.  Most white players have no clue how to play it and many of my wins with the Alekhine's have involved winning a piece in the first 15 moves.  I don't care what Nigel Short said about it, the Alekhine's is for real and today even Magnus played it!!  It's fun because it's totally imbalanced and many lines aren't well analyzed at all.

Carlsen used the Alekhine to beat Aronian in a recent online game. I think it's a very ok defense if you know how to play it.

Glad to see people with open minds

Yes when I first started taking chess seriously 2 years ago Alekhines Defense was exclusively what I played against e4 until a couple months ago. Like others have said if you enjoy learning theory I find you can really get an edge early with this opening.  Ironically I still hate facing it when I have the white pieces.

I play 2.Nc3 if faced with the alekhine's, when black doesn't really have anything better than to play 2...e5 or 2...c5.

Haha I leaned the Alekhine from Taylor's book and 2... d5 was where I departed from his advice because I liked the French transposition. I also like playing 2...e5 and going for a Petrov 3 knights

Very dynamic opening, Gives lots of space to White, Black tries to counterattack. Play some games and use chess.com opening explorer to learn the plans. For Blitz that should be interesting.

In a recent streaming, GM Miguel Santos said the Alekhine is bad due to the horrible knight on b6. «It is a potato. The Alekhine is even inferior than the Philidor and the Scandinavian».

i tried to get into playing the alekhine but just found it way too difficult to play effectively at my level i think because it has a strategy to it that disregards conventional opening principals. i feel like it is best left to the masters/pros, who ironically it seems to have fallen out of favor with

Here's my experience/opinion with the Alekhine at +-2200 level: - The 4 pawns is the easiest to meet, scored very well - Against the exchange (exd6), I turned to the symmetrical exd6 answer with much better results than with the asymmetric cxd6?!. - Against the Modern Nf3 variation, I turned to Carlsen's choice : dxe5 followed by the solid c6. I get very good positions. I was crushed before this choice! - Against 2.Nc3, I play d5. Must be ready to go into a French Def. after 3. e5 Nfd7 - Against 2. d3 or 2. Qe2, simply 2...e5. is very good - What annoys me the most : 2.e5 Nd5 3.Nc3 variation. I don't like Nxc3 dxc3. Gives to much play for white! So I would play 3...Nb6. But I'm not convinced yet.

Six part series on the Alekhine.

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLssNbVBYrGcA1_4uP2KguvKBcsKw5eSgg

Interestingly enough, I have the exact same repertoire as you! Against sämisch 3.Nc3, I changed to 3...e6, giving nice results. Sometimes after Nxd5 exd5 I sac the d5 pawn for speedy development.

Against 2.Nc3 I go to Vienna with e5.

Yes, I also sometimes go to the Vienna against 2.Nc3, knowing that 3.f4 is very well met with 3...d5!

Your suggestion against the Sämisch is interesting. I will have a look at this e6 variation. 

Thanks for the tip. 👍

Yes apparently Alekhine himself played it against sämisch. 

I remember bismark mentioning a tranpositions to an inferior caro from the alekhine