A73 · Indian · a defense for Black
Benoni Defense: Classical Variation, Main Line
17/17
1.d4Nf62.c4c53.d5e64.Nc3exd55.cxd5d66.e4g67.Nf3Bg78.Be2O-O9.O-O
Live databaseLichess 1600–2000 · blitz + rapid
Benoni Defense: Classical Variation, Main Line103k games · Black to move
MoveWhite / draw / BlackPlayedGamesScore
25%25k50%
21%22k51%
5.5%5.7k44%
3.8%3.9k49%
0.5%50045%
0.4%45142%
0.4%38244%
0.3%29635%
0.2%19847%
Famous games in this line1.3k master games
So, Wesley (2770) – Caruana, Fabiano (2835)Aronian, L. (2786) – Caruana, F. (2794)Kamsky, Gata (2695) – Ivanchuk, Vassily (2710)Anand, Viswanathan (2765) – Illescas Cordoba, Miguel (2635)Li Chao2 (2732) – Guseinov, G. (2646)Anand, Viswanathan (2794) – Hernandez, Gilberto (2567)Inarkiev, E. (2689) – Guseinov, G. (2646)Le, Quang Liem (2729) – Jobava, Ba (2577)Heroes of this opening Anand, Viswanathan · Guseinov, G. · Ivanchuk, Vassily
- Family
- Benoni Defense
- Category
- Indian
- First move
- 1.d4
- ECO
- A73
- 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
Sharp
★ Read the guide: Benoni DefenseExplore all 61 Benoni Defense lines →Keep exploring
Go deeper — named lines from here
Benoni Defense: Classical Variation, Czerniak DefenseA76 9…Re8 · 1 deeper lineBenoni Defense: Classical Variation, Full LineA74 9…a6 10.a4Benoni Defense: Classical Variation, Czerniak Defense, Tal LineA77 9…Re8 10.Nd2
Nearby lines in the family
From the archives
The name comes from Aaron Reinganum's 1825 book 'Ben-Oni' — Hebrew for 'son of my sorrow,' reportedly written to distract himself from melancholy. Tal made the Modern Benoni a terror in the 1960s: give up the center, then let every piece point at White's queenside like an accusation.
Study this opening