Benko Gambit: Fianchetto Variation
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. d5 b5 4. cxb5 a6 5. bxa6 Bxa6 6. Nc3 d6 7. Nf3 g6 8. g3
The Benko Gambit: Fianchetto Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO A58, reached after 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. d5 b5 4. cxb5 a6 5. bxa6 Bxa6 6. Nc3 d6 7. Nf3 g6 8. g3. It is a line of the Benko Gambit. Black is to move.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 73 times by this move order. White won 48%, 5% were drawn and Black won 47%. The most popular continuation is 8… Bg7 (96% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.60 (Stockfish, depth 30; best line 8… Bg7 9. Bg2 Nbd7 10. O-O Nb6 11. a4)
- ECO
- A58
- Moves
- 15 plies
- FEN
rn1qkb1r/4pp1p/b2p1np1/2pP4/8/2N2NP1/PP2PP1P/R1BQKB1R b KQkq - 0 8- PGN
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. d5 b5 4. cxb5 a6 5. bxa6 Bxa6 6. Nc3 d6 7. Nf3 g6 8. g3
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 1 | |
| 1500-1999 | 25 | |
| 2000+ | 47 | |
| All | 73 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 8… Bg7 | 70 (96%) | |
| 8… Nbd7 | 3 (4%) |
Master games
151 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 49%, draw 20%, Black 31%). The strongest:
- GM Davit Jojua (2575) – GM Levan Pantsulaia (2607) 1-0 · 76th ch-GEO 2017 · 2017-01-22
- GM Rinat Jumabayev (2604) – FM Alexei Kulashko (2348) 1-0 · 42nd Olympiad 2016 · 2016-09-03
- IM Nicolas Brunner (2428) – IM Mahammad Muradli (2449) 0-1 · Titled Tuesday 8th Sept · 2020-09-08
- Mu Ke (2274) – GM Weiqi Zhou (2590) 1/2-1/2 · 3rd HD Bank Cup 2013 · 2013-03-19
- IM Diasmany Otero Acosta (2481) – IM Osmel Garcia Carey (2367) 1-0 · 3rd Jugando en Concreto Open 2014 · 2014-04-20
Search all games of the Benko Gambit: Fianchetto Variation and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- CM Mpaape (2625) – puri90 (2460) 1-0 · 2026-09-06 · 180 + 0s
- dauchwy (2435) – Bodoque55 (2577) 1-0 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
- NM dschwarz (2541) – MESTRE_LUDY (2365) 1-0 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
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.