Benoni Defense (6. Nc3 g6)
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 c5 4. d5 exd5 5. cxd5 d6 6. Nc3 g6
The Benoni Defense is a chess opening classified as ECO A61, reached after 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 c5 4. d5 exd5 5. cxd5 d6 6. Nc3 g6. White is to move. 4 named lines continue from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 252 times by this move order. White won 51%, 4% were drawn and Black won 45%. The most popular continuation is 7. e4 (44% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.66 (Stockfish, depth 50; best line 7. Nd2 Bg7 8. e4 O-O 9. Be2 Re8)
- ECO
- A61
- Moves
- 12 plies
- FEN
rnbqkb1r/pp3p1p/3p1np1/2pP4/8/2N2N2/PP2PPPP/R1BQKB1R w KQkq - 0 7- PGN
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 c5 4. d5 exd5 5. cxd5 d6 6. Nc3 g6
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 1 | |
| 1500-1999 | 41 | |
| 2000+ | 210 | |
| All | 252 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 7. e4 Classical Variation (6… g6 7. e4) | 110 (44%) | |
| 7. Bf4 | 31 (12%) | |
| 7. h3 | 28 (11%) | |
| 7. g3 Fianchetto Variation (6… g6 7. g3) | 28 (11%) | |
| 7. Nd2 Knight's Tour Variation | 28 (11%) | |
| 7. Bg5 Uhlmann Variation | 22 (9%) | |
| 7. e3 | 2 (1%) | |
| 7. b3 | 1 (0%) |
Master games
900 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 51%, draw 21%, Black 28%). The strongest:
- KomodoDragon3.3 (3592) – LCZero0.31-dag-5350a2e-BT4-6147500 (3628) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 26 Premier 2024 · 2024-05-05
- LCZero0.31-dag-5350a2e-BT4-6147500 (3628) – KomodoDragon3.3 (3592) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 26 Premier 2024 · 2024-05-02
- Ethereal 13.89_NNUE (3515) – Stockfish dev16_202209170930 (3611) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 23 Premier 2022 · 2022-09-30
- Stockfish dev16_202209170930 (3611) – Ethereal 13.89_NNUE (3515) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 23 Premier 2022 · 2022-09-30
- Fire 8_beta (3457) – Stoofvlees II a14 (3504) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 19 Premier 2020 · 2020-09-17
Search all games of the Benoni Defense and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- NM Andrey11976 (2800) – Epichess95 (2834) 0-1 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
- ScaryIndianJunior (2819) – fortunex2 (2615) 1-0 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
- July16Q (2649) – notkevich (2741) 1-0 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Indian Defense: Anti-Nimzo-Indian 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3
Continuations
- Benoni Defense: Classical Variation (6… g6 7. e4) A70 · 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 c5 4. d5 exd5 5. cxd5 d6 6. Nc3 g6 7. e4
- Benoni Defense: Fianchetto Variation (6… g6 7. g3) A61 · 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 c5 4. d5 exd5 5. cxd5 d6 6. Nc3 g6 7. g3
- Benoni Defense: Knight's Tour Variation A61 · 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 c5 4. d5 exd5 5. cxd5 d6 6. Nc3 g6 7. Nd2
- Benoni Defense: Uhlmann Variation A61 · 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 c5 4. d5 exd5 5. cxd5 d6 6. Nc3 g6 7. Bg5
More Benoni Defense lines (all)
- Benoni Defense: Franco-Sicilian Hybrid A40
- Benoni Defense: Benoni Gambit Accepted A43
- Benoni Defense: Benoni Gambit, Schlenker Defense A43
- Benoni Defense: Benoni-Indian Defense A43
- Benoni Defense: Benoni-Indian Defense, Kingside Move Order A43
- Benoni Defense: Benoni-Staunton Gambit A43
- Benoni Defense: Cormorant Gambit A43
- Benoni Defense: French Benoni A43
- Benoni Defense: Hawk Variation A43
- Benoni Defense: Old Benoni (1. d4 c5) A43
- Benoni Defense: Old Benoni (1… c5 2. d5) A43
- Benoni Defense: Old Benoni (2. d5 d6) A43
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.