Benko Gambit (8… d6 9. g3)
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. d5 b5 4. cxb5 a6 5. bxa6 g6 6. Nc3 Bxa6 7. e4 Bxf1 8. Kxf1 d6 9. g3
The Benko Gambit is a chess opening classified as ECO A59, reached after 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. d5 b5 4. cxb5 a6 5. bxa6 g6 6. Nc3 Bxa6 7. e4 Bxf1 8. Kxf1 d6 9. g3. Black is to move.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 62 times by this move order. White won 45%, 11% were drawn and Black won 44%. The most popular continuation is 9… Bg7 (87% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.76 (Stockfish, depth 34; best line 9… Na6 10. Kg2 Bg7 11. Nf3 O-O 12. Rb1)
- ECO
- A59
- Moves
- 17 plies
- FEN
rn1qkb1r/4pp1p/3p1np1/2pP4/4P3/2N3P1/PP3P1P/R1BQ1KNR b kq - 0 9- PGN
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. d5 b5 4. cxb5 a6 5. bxa6 g6 6. Nc3 Bxa6 7. e4 Bxf1 8. Kxf1 d6 9. g3
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 1500-1999 | 6 | |
| 2000+ | 56 | |
| All | 62 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 9… Bg7 | 54 (87%) | |
| 9… Nbd7 | 8 (13%) |
Master games
497 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 43%, draw 24%, Black 33%). The strongest:
- GM Magnus Carlsen (2837) – GM Dmitry Andreikin (2700) 1/2-1/2 · World Blitz Final · 2012-07-10
- GM Alexey Sarana (2654) – GM Jeffery Xiong (2709) 1/2-1/2 · chess.com Junior Speed · 2020-10-05
- GM Matthias Bluebaum (2640) – GM Jeffery Xiong (2646) 1-0 · Titled Tue 1st Oct Early · 2024-10-01
- GM Matthias Bluebaum (2655) – GM Johan-Sebastian Christiansen (2629) 1-0 · Titled Tue 16th Jan Early · 2024-01-16
- GM Matthias Bluebaum (2663) – GM Johan-Sebastian Christiansen (2577) 1-0 · Titled Tue 14th Feb Late · 2023-02-14
Highest-rated Lichess games
- quick_Mate (2666) – FM Attila76 (2627) 1-0 · 2026-09-06 · 180 + 0s
- FM petrik05 (2700) – Pmik (2522) 1-0 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 2s
- Pepekan (2524) – oldandnotcold (2649) 0-1 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 2s
Comes from
Benko Gambit Accepted: Fully Accepted Variation 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. d5 b5 4. cxb5 a6 5. bxa6
More Benko Gambit lines (all)
Opening names and moves from the Lichess openings dataset; statistics from the Lichess open database, 2026-09 (CC0), sample of 12.6 million games, bots excluded; evaluations from Lichess cloud analysis (all CC0). Master games from The Week in Chess #920–#1664 by Mark Crowther, used with permission.