Benko Gambit Accepted: Modern Variation
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. d5 b5 4. cxb5 a6 5. e3
The Benko Gambit Accepted: Modern Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO A57, reached after 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. d5 b5 4. cxb5 a6 5. e3. It is a line of the Benko Gambit Accepted. Black is to move.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 785 times by this move order. White won 47%, 9% were drawn and Black won 44%. The most popular continuation is 5… g6 (33% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.42 (Stockfish, depth 62; best line 5… Qa5+ 6. Bd2 Qb6 7. Nc3 axb5 8. Bxb5)
- ECO
- A57
- Moves
- 9 plies
- FEN
rnbqkb1r/3ppppp/p4n2/1PpP4/8/4P3/PP3PPP/RNBQKBNR b KQkq - 0 5- PGN
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. d5 b5 4. cxb5 a6 5. e3
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 2 | |
| 1500-1999 | 191 | |
| 2000+ | 592 | |
| All | 785 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 5… g6 | 260 (33%) | |
| 5… axb5 | 259 (33%) | |
| 5… d6 | 139 (18%) | |
| 5… e6 | 85 (11%) | |
| 5… Bb7 | 30 (4%) | |
| 5… Qa5+ | 9 (1%) | |
| 5… Ne4 | 2 (0%) | |
| 5… Nxd5 | 1 (0%) |
Master games
2,645 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 52%, draw 16%, Black 32%). The strongest:
- LCZero 0.31-dag-5350a2e-BT4-61 (3631) – Stockfish dev-20240728-2343f71 (3662) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 26 Balanced Lines · 2024-08-03
- Stockfish dev-20240728-2343f71 (3662) – LCZero 0.31-dag-5350a2e-BT4-61 (3631) 1-0 · TCEC 26 Balanced Lines · 2024-08-03
- Stoofvlees II d9 (3541) – Reckless 0.10.0-dev-9057bc13 (3749) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 29 Gambit Bonus 2026 · 2026-05-28
- Reckless 0.10.0-dev-9057bc13 (3749) – Stoofvlees II d9 (3541) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 29 Gambit Bonus 2026 · 2026-05-28
- ScorpioNN3.0.13 (3483) – Igel3.0.5 (3512) 1-0 · TCEC 21 Premier 2021 · 2021-07-04
Search all games of the Benko Gambit Accepted: Modern Variation and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- ScaryIndianJunior (2805) – tsunami10 (2798) 0-1 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
- ScaryIndianJunior (2823) – reallylovezerk (2710) 0-1 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
- Chess1Love0 (2815) – reallylovezerk (2705) 0-1 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Benko Gambit Accepted 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. d5 b5 4. cxb5 a6
More Benko Gambit Accepted lines (all)
- Benko Gambit Accepted: Dlugy Variation A57
- Benko Gambit Accepted: Pawn Return Variation A57
- Benko Gambit Accepted: Central Storming Variation A58
- Benko Gambit Accepted: Fianchetto Variation A58
- Benko Gambit Accepted: Fully Accepted Variation A58
- Benko Gambit Accepted: King Walk Variation A59
- Benko Gambit Accepted: Yugoslav (6… d6 7. e4) A59
- Benko Gambit Accepted: Yugoslav (8… d6 9. Nge2) A59
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.