Benko Gambit Declined: Sosonko Variation
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. d5 b5 4. a4
The Benko Gambit Declined: Sosonko Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO A57, reached after 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. d5 b5 4. a4. 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 115 times by this move order. White won 39%, 4% were drawn and Black won 57%. The most popular continuation is 4… bxc4 (54% of games).
Engine evaluation: 0.00 (Stockfish, depth 55; best line 4… Qa5+ 5. Bd2 b4 6. Qc2 g6 7. e4)
- ECO
- A57
- Moves
- 7 plies
- FEN
rnbqkb1r/p2ppppp/5n2/1ppP4/P1P5/8/1P2PPPP/RNBQKBNR b KQkq - 0 4- PGN
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. d5 b5 4. a4
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 2 | |
| 1500-1999 | 17 | |
| 2000+ | 96 | |
| All | 115 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 4… bxc4 | 62 (54%) | |
| 4… b4 | 44 (38%) | |
| 4… Qa5+ | 6 (5%) | |
| 4… a6 | 2 (2%) | |
| 4… e6 | 1 (1%) |
Master games
250 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 42%, draw 17%, Black 41%). The strongest:
- GM Ruslan Ponomariov (2731) – GM Levon Aronian (2803) 0-1 · SportAccord Blitz Men 2013 · 2013-12-14
- GM Valentina Gunina (2509) – GM Viktorija Cmilyte (2514) 0-1 · SportAccord Blitz Women 2013 · 2013-12-14
- GM Tornike Sanikidze (2596) – IM Alessio Valsecchi (2425) 0-1 · 21st Kavala Open A · 2012-07-31
- GM Rainer Buhmann (2578) – IM Kevin Terrieux (2427) 1/2-1/2 · French Top 12 2013 · 2013-06-08
- FM Dmitry Tatarinov (2332) – GM Jeffery Xiong (2659) 0-1 · Titled Tue 30th Jan Early · 2024-01-30
Search all games of the Benko Gambit Declined: Sosonko Variation and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- Caminero85 (2700) – FM fmjoseherrera (2602) 1-0 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
- GM rhungaski (2626) – FM fsalguero (2553) 1-0 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 2s
- econpower (2597) – vev35 (2506) 1-0 · 2026-09-04 · 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.