Benko Gambit: Zaitsev Variation, Nescafe Frappe Attack
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. d5 b5 4. cxb5 a6 5. Nc3 axb5 6. e4 b4 7. Nb5
The Benko Gambit: Zaitsev Variation, Nescafe Frappe Attack is a chess opening classified as ECO A57, reached after 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. d5 b5 4. cxb5 a6 5. Nc3 axb5 6. e4 b4 7. Nb5. It is a line of the Benko Gambit. Black is to move. 1 named line continues from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 69 times by this move order. White won 67%, 1% were drawn and Black won 32%. The most popular continuation is 7… d6 (77% of games).
Engine evaluation: −0.03 (Stockfish, depth 38; best line 7… d6 8. a4 g6 9. Bd3 Bg7 10. Nf3)
- ECO
- A57
- Moves
- 13 plies
- FEN
rnbqkb1r/3ppppp/5n2/1NpP4/1p2P3/8/PP3PPP/R1BQKBNR b KQkq - 1 7- PGN
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. d5 b5 4. cxb5 a6 5. Nc3 axb5 6. e4 b4 7. Nb5
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 1500-1999 | 11 | |
| 2000+ | 58 | |
| All | 69 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 7… d6 | 53 (77%) | |
| 7… Nxe4 | 12 (17%) | |
| 7… e6 | 2 (3%) | |
| 7… Ba6 | 1 (1%) | |
| 7… Bb7 | 1 (1%) |
Master games
165 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 51%, draw 11%, Black 38%). The strongest:
- GM Pavel Ponkratov (2582) – GM Jeffery Xiong (2693) 0-1 · chess.com SpeedChess Q2Sw · 2023-08-23
- GM Pavel Ponkratov (2610) – GM Daniil Dubov (2661) 0-1 · 68th ch-RUS HL 2015 · 2015-06-28
- GM Daniil Dubov (2661) – GM Alejandro Ramirez (2549) 1-0 · Aeroflot Open A 2017 · 2017-02-22
- GM Pavel Ponkratov (2595) – GM Zaven Andriasian (2611) 1-0 · 36th Nezhmetdinov Rapid 2014 · 2014-05-30
- GM Alexey Sarana (2675) – GM Guha Mitrabha (2500) 1-0 · Titled Tue 19th Apr Early · 2022-04-19
Highest-rated Lichess games
- arteeeeeeeem (2535) – oldandnotcold (2644) 0-1 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 2s
- IM Chomuszka (2489) – Gicko (2532) 1-0 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
- IM gsoppe (2447) – Pmik (2544) 0-1 · 2026-09-06 · 180 + 2s
Comes from
Benko Gambit: Zaitsev System 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. d5 b5 4. cxb5 a6 5. Nc3
Continuations
- Benko Gambit: Nescafe Frappe Attack A57 · 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. d5 b5 4. cxb5 a6 5. Nc3 axb5 6. e4 b4 7. Nb5 d6 8. Bc4
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.