Benoni Defense: Classical Variation, Full Line
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. d5 e6 4. Nc3 exd5 5. cxd5 d6 6. e4 g6 7. Nf3 Bg7 8. Be2 O-O 9. O-O a6 10. a4
The Benoni Defense: Classical Variation, Full Line is a chess opening classified as ECO A74, reached after 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. d5 e6 4. Nc3 exd5 5. cxd5 d6 6. e4 g6 7. Nf3 Bg7 8. Be2 O-O 9. O-O a6 10. a4. It is a line of the Benoni Defense. Black is to move.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 11 times by this move order. White won 55%, 27% were drawn and Black won 18%. The most popular continuation is 10… Bg4 (91% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.55 (Stockfish, depth 34; best line 10… Bg4 11. Bf4 Bxf3 12. Bxf3 Qe7 13. e5)
- ECO
- A74
- Moves
- 19 plies
- FEN
rnbq1rk1/1p3pbp/p2p1np1/2pP4/P3P3/2N2N2/1P2BPPP/R1BQ1RK1 b - - 0 10- PGN
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. d5 e6 4. Nc3 exd5 5. cxd5 d6 6. e4 g6 7. Nf3 Bg7 8. Be2 O-O 9. O-O a6 10. a4
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 1500-1999 | 3 | |
| 2000+ | 8 | |
| All | 11 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 10… Bg4 | 10 (91%) | |
| 10… Re8 | 1 (9%) |
Master games
30 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 33%, draw 27%, Black 40%). The strongest:
- GM Robert Markus (2611) – Damir Sutkovic (2331) 1-0 · 43rd Open A Bosna 2013 · 2013-06-02
- Mate Ribicic (2203) – Damir Sutkovic (2344) 1/2-1/2 · TCh-CRO II Liga 2013 · 2013-10-05
- FM Sergey Y. Yakimov (2131) – IM Aslan Aitbayev (2406) 0-1 · Pavlodar Open 2013 · 2013-12-15
- WFM Daria Yurasova (2048) – IM Milosz Szpar (2428) 1-0 · Titled Tue 29th Nov Early · 2022-11-29
- FM Juan Pablo Castro Lombana (2183) – FM Sreyas Payyappat (2184) 1-0 · 3rd 3-0 Thu 16th Jul 2026 · 2026-07-16
Search all games of the Benoni Defense: Classical Variation, Full Line and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- Kostov_64 (2327) – Gran_panda (2292) 1-0 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 0s
- metro13790 (2245) – Paul77A (2340) 0-1 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 0s
- kir-sam (2217) – Docpaw (2288) 1-0 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 2s
Comes from
Benoni Defense: Classical Variation, Main Line 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. d5 e6 4. Nc3 exd5 5. cxd5 d6 6. e4 g6 7. Nf3 Bg7 8. Be2 O-O 9. O-O
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.