What do we look for when choosing an opening? Some players are more comfortable with a solid closed position with no risks, some other like eternally long theoretical main lines challenging their rival to play the game "let's see who gets deepest into the book". Some other just try to get out of the book as soon as possible, and play on. It all depends on your playing style, I guess.

I'm more of a tactical than a positional player. That's why I always try to find dynamic openings with several plans, ideas more than theoretical lines. That is where I get more comfortable.

Recently I was looking for another defence to 1.e4 to add to my repertoire, and I bumped into Timothy Taylor's awesome book "Alekhine alert!". I've never dared play the Alekhine since I though I wouldn't like the seemingly cramped position that Black gets right out of the opening... but I decided to give it a go. I don't regret to have done it. The Alekhine is simply an amazing defense, really dynamic and bold, suitable for dynamic tactical players, where Black challenges White's plans from the word "go"! How many openings can do this? Well the Scandinavian you might say. So right. Another defense I like to play with Black, even though White gets a better game here than in the Alekhine.

1.e4 Nf6. Bang! What are you gonna do?

80% of the people push the pawn, which might seem good... but Black's knight then leaves f6 to ocupy the fantastic d5 square. Didn't anyone say that knights must be centralized? A lot of white players (and I really mean a lot, believe me) just try to refute the Alekhine in the very first 4-5 moves just by overextending the pawns up the board. The farther the better for Black. Believe it or not, that's the way it is. If white plays carelessly, the pawn center simply gets crushed.

But let me tell you something else: when you play white, and you face whichever defense, you always try to play the best line against it in order to overplay your opponent. As for the Alekhine, the suposed-to-be best line for black is hardly played 20% of the times. Most of the times White simply doesn't really know how to attack the Alekhine set-up. This means, in other words, that chances are you're gonna get - I wouldn't say an easy game but - a game not as dangerous as if you played any other defencs. 

So if you play the Alekhine or you're willing to, let me recommend you Taylor's book. You're gonna love it!