A43 · Indian · a defense for Black
Benoni Defense: Hawk Variation
6/6
1.d4Nf62.Nf3c53.d5c4
Live databaseLichess 1600–2000 · blitz + rapid
Benoni Defense: Hawk Variation5.9k games · White to move
MoveWhite / draw / BlackPlayedGamesScore
47%2.8k60%
15%86757%
11%63459%
6.8%40453%
5.2%30663%
3.5%20650%
3.3%19559%
2.1%12449%
2%11743%
1.7%10156%
Famous games in this line24 master games
Speelman, Jonathan S (2623) – Paulsen, Dirk (2431)Dautov, Rustem (2625) – Telljohann, Sven (2410)Cifuentes Parada, Roberto (2540) – Kuijf, Marinus (2440)Volzhin, Alexander (2528) – Rossi, Carlo (2418)Schandorff, Lars (2485) – Olesen, Martin (2400)Bykhovsky, Anatoly (2383) – Kopylov, Mihail (2469)Maherramzade, Javad (2415) – Telljohann, Sven (2420)Tukmakov, Vladimir B (2565) – Trauth, Michael (2270)Heroes of this opening Speelman, Jonathan S · Dautov, Rustem · Volzhin, Alexander · Schandorff, Lars
- Family
- Benoni Defense
- Category
- Indian
- First move
- 1.d4
- ECO
- A43
- Line
- 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 c5 3. d5 c4
Sharp
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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.
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