Indian · a defense for Black
Benoni Defense: Fianchetto Variation
13/13
1.d4Nf62.c4e63.Nf3c54.d5exd55.cxd5d66.Nc3g67.g3
Live databaseLichess 1600–2000 · blitz + rapid
Benoni Defense: Fianchetto Variation43k games · Black to move
MoveWhite / draw / BlackPlayedGamesScore
97%41k47%
2.3%1.0k46%
1%41544%
0%2045%
0%2053%
0%1331%
0%844%
0%520%
0%40%
0%475%
Famous games in this line1.8k master games
Aronian, Levon (2783) – Ivanchuk, Vassily (2754)Ponomariov, Ruslan (2739) – Gashimov, Vugar (2758)Grischuk, Alexander (2756) – Gashimov, Vugar (2740)Grischuk, Alexander (2736) – Gashimov, Vugar (2759)Grischuk, Alexander (2736) – Gelfand, Boris (2758)Grischuk, Alexander (2748) – Bacrot, Etienne (2728)Eljanov, Pavel (2692) – Topalov, Veselin (2780)Aronian, Levon (2759) – Carlsen, Magnus (2693)Heroes of this opening Aronian, Levon · Grischuk, Alexander · Gashimov, Vugar · Eljanov, Pavel
- Family
- Benoni Defense
- Category
- Indian
- First move
- 1.d4
- ECO
- A61
- Line
- 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 c5 4. d5 exd5 5. cxd5 d6 6. Nc3 g6 7. g3
FianchettoSharp
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From the archives
The name comes from Aaron Reinganum's 1825 book 'Ben-Oni' — Hebrew for 'son of sorrow'. Reinganum's own words give the reason: he sat over a chessboard whenever he wanted to take refuge from melancholy. Tal made the Modern Benoni a terror in the 1950s and 60s: give up the centre, then let every piece point at White's queenside like an accusation.
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