Benko Gambit Declined: Hjørring Countergambit
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. d5 b5 4. e4
The Benko Gambit Declined: Hjørring Countergambit is a chess opening classified as ECO A57, reached after 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. d5 b5 4. e4. It is a line of the Benko Gambit Declined. Black is to move.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 45 times by this move order. White won 47%, 4% were drawn and Black won 49%. The most popular continuation is 4… Nxe4 (51% of games).
Engine evaluation: −0.16 (Stockfish, depth 36; best line 4… Nxe4 5. Nf3 a6 6. h4 h6 7. Bd3)
- ECO
- A57
- Moves
- 7 plies
- FEN
rnbqkb1r/p2ppppp/5n2/1ppP4/2P1P3/8/PP3PPP/RNBQKBNR b KQkq - 0 4- PGN
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. d5 b5 4. e4
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 5 | |
| 1500-1999 | 21 | |
| 2000+ | 19 | |
| All | 45 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 4… Nxe4 | 23 (51%) | |
| 4… d6 | 12 (27%) | |
| 4… bxc4 | 6 (13%) | |
| 4… b4 | 2 (4%) | |
| 4… e5 | 1 (2%) | |
| 4… a6 | 1 (2%) |
Master games
34 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 56%, draw 12%, Black 32%). The strongest:
- IM Ilja Derjabin (2353) – GM Jeffery Xiong (2686) 0-1 · Titled Tue 29th Mar Early · 2022-03-29
- IM Ilja Derjabin (2333) – GM Jeffery Xiong (2692) 0-1 · Titled Tue 20th Dec Early · 2022-12-20
- GM Ivan Ivanisevic (2557) – GM Danilo Milanovic (2409) 1/2-1/2 · ch-SRB Blitz 2022 · 2022-06-05
- GM Ivan Ivanisevic (2606) – FM Deniz Arman (2336) 1/2-1/2 · Titled Arena Mar 6th 2021 · 2021-03-06
- IM Timofey Iljin (2335) – GM Baadur Jobava (2600) 0-1 · Titled Tue 3rd May Early · 2022-05-03
Search all games of the Benko Gambit Declined: Hjørring Countergambit and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- sunchess137 (2695) – V4ess (2645) 0-1 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
- TiGeX (2486) – aviksman (2464) 0-1 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
- Lyko-Shin (2426) – cfif5 (2411) 1-0 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Benko Gambit (3. d5 b5) 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. d5 b5
More Benko Gambit Declined 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.