Benoni Defense: Cormorant Gambit
1. d4 c5 2. dxc5 b6
The Benoni Defense: Cormorant Gambit is a chess opening classified as ECO A43, reached after 1. d4 c5 2. dxc5 b6. It is a line of the Benoni Defense. White is to move.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 412 times by this move order. White won 56%, 4% were drawn and Black won 40%. The most popular continuation is 3. cxb6 (81% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.94 (Stockfish, depth 32; best line 3. cxb6 axb6 4. b3 Ba6 5. Bb2 Nf6)
- ECO
- A43
- Moves
- 4 plies
- FEN
rnbqkbnr/p2ppppp/1p6/2P5/8/8/PPP1PPPP/RNBQKBNR w KQkq - 0 3- PGN
1. d4 c5 2. dxc5 b6
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 271 | |
| 1500-1999 | 138 | |
| 2000+ | 3 | |
| All | 412 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 3. cxb6 | 332 (81%) | |
| 3. Be3 | 16 (4%) | |
| 3. Nf3 | 12 (3%) | |
| 3. e4 | 9 (2%) | |
| 3. Bf4 | 8 (2%) | |
| 3. b4 | 8 (2%) | |
| 3. Nc3 | 6 (1%) | |
| 3. Qd5 | 5 (1%) |
Highest-rated Lichess games
- TpeHep2 (2075) – PagerAttack (2213) 1-0 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
- Shafibappy (2022) – cOrNsTaRrcH (2022) 1-0 · 2026-09-02 · 600 + 0s
- abdellahi08 (2005) – Kudatroya_jrc (1998) 1-0 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Benoni Defense: Benoni Gambit Accepted 1. d4 c5 2. dxc5
More Benoni Defense lines (all)
- Benoni Defense: Franco-Sicilian Hybrid A40
- 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: 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
- Benoni Defense: Old Benoni, Mujannah Formation A43
- Benoni Defense: Old Benoni, Schmid Variation 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.