Indian · a defense for Black
Benoni Defense: King's Pawn Line, with Bg5
13/13
1.d4Nf62.c4g63.Nc3Bg74.e4d65.f3O-O6.Bg5c57.d5
Live databaseLichess 1600–2000 · blitz + rapid
Benoni Defense: King's Pawn Line, with Bg541k games · Black to move
MoveWhite / draw / BlackPlayedGamesScore
27%11k49%
18%7.5k48%
17%6.9k50%
17%6.7k49%
6.1%2.5k51%
4%1.6k50%
2.4%97044%
1.9%77246%
1.6%64850%
1.2%49741%
Famous games in this line1.7k master games
Nakamura, Hi (2816) – Caruana, F. (2789)Carlsen, M. (2861) – Erigaisi, Arjun (2725)Nakamura, Hi (2802) – Firouzja, Alireza (2767)Carlsen, M. (2881) – Inarkiev, E. (2682)Ponomariov, R. (2714) – Grischuk, A. (2810)Najer, E. (2682) – Mamedyarov, S. (2772)Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar (2731) – Vachier Lagrave, Maxime (2716)Dreev, Alexey (2670) – Kasparov, Garry (2775)Heroes of this opening Nakamura, Hi · Carlsen, M. · Grischuk, A. · Mamedyarov, S.
- Family
- Benoni Defense
- Category
- Indian
- First move
- 1.d4
- ECO
- A65
- Line
- 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. f3 O-O 6. Bg5 c5 7. d5
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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