Indian · a defense for Black
Benoni Defense: Classical Variation, Czerniak Defense, Tal Line
19/19
1.d4Nf62.c4c53.d5e64.Nc3exd55.cxd5d66.e4g67.Nf3Bg78.Be2O-O9.O-ORe810.Nd2
Live databaseLichess 1600–2000 · blitz + rapid
Benoni Defense: Classical Variation, Czerniak Defense, Tal Line25k games · Black to move
MoveWhite / draw / BlackPlayedGamesScore
58%15k45%
18%4.6k46%
3.1%78446%
1.6%41133%
1.2%29637%
0.5%12447%
0.4%11040%
0.4%10647%
0.2%5837%
Famous games in this line1.3k master games
So, Wesley (2770) – Caruana, Fabiano (2835)Vachier Lagrave, Maxime (2789) – Caruana, F. (2804)Aronian, L. (2786) – Caruana, F. (2794)Kramnik, Vladimir (2802) – Topalov, Veselin (2711)Kramnik, Vladimir (2772) – Topalov, Veselin (2718)Yu Yangyi (2734) – Rapport, R. (2752)Ponomariov, Ruslan (2737) – Gashimov, Vugar (2740)Tomashevsky, E. (2716) – Matlakov, M. (2694)- Family
- Benoni Defense
- Category
- Indian
- First move
- 1.d4
- ECO
- A77
- Line
- 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. d5 e6 4. Nc3 exd5 5. cxd5 d6 6. e4 g6 7. Nf3 Bg7 8. Be2 O-O 9. O-O Re8 10. Nd2
Sharp
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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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