Benoni Defense: Fianchetto Variation (8. Nf3 O-O)
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. g3 c5 4. d5 exd5 5. cxd5 d6 6. Nc3 g6 7. Bg2 Bg7 8. Nf3 O-O
The Benoni Defense: Fianchetto Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO A62, reached after 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. g3 c5 4. d5 exd5 5. cxd5 d6 6. Nc3 g6 7. Bg2 Bg7 8. Nf3 O-O. It is a line of the Benoni Defense. White is to move. 2 named lines continue from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 70 times by this move order. White won 49%, 7% were drawn and Black won 44%. The most popular continuation is 9. O-O (99% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.34 (Stockfish, depth 40; best line 9. O-O Re8 10. Bf4 Bf5 11. Nh4 Bg4)
- ECO
- A62
- Moves
- 16 plies
- FEN
rnbq1rk1/pp3pbp/3p1np1/2pP4/8/2N2NP1/PP2PPBP/R1BQK2R w KQ - 4 9- PGN
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. g3 c5 4. d5 exd5 5. cxd5 d6 6. Nc3 g6 7. Bg2 Bg7 8. Nf3 O-O
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 1500-1999 | 1 | |
| 2000+ | 69 | |
| All | 70 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 9. O-O | 69 (99%) | |
| 9. Bf4 | 1 (1%) |
Master games
1,770 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 33%, draw 25%, Black 42%). The strongest:
- GM Fabiano Caruana (2757) – GM Vladimir Kramnik (2810) 1/2-1/2 · Zuerich Chess Challenge · 2013-02-25
- GM Veselin Topalov (2771) – GM Sergey Karjakin (2786) 1-0 · Renova FIDE GP Zug · 2013-04-30
- GM Liren Ding (2805) – GM David Navara (2734) 1/2-1/2 · Navara-Ding Match 2019 · 2019-06-18
- GM Liren Ding (2805) – GM David Navara (2734) 1-0 · Navara-Ding Match 2019 · 2019-06-17
- GM Fabiano Caruana (2796) – GM Levon Aronian (2729) 1-0 · SuperUnited CRO Blitz 2024 · 2024-07-14
Search all games of the Benoni Defense: Fianchetto Variation and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- Chess1Love0 (2795) – winx_m (2950) 1-0 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 0s
- Sunrise34 (2850) – Chess1Love0 (2825) 1-0 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
- Chess1Love0 (2797) – GM CrazySage (2808) 1-0 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Catalan Opening (2… e6 3. g3) 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. g3
Continuations
- Benoni Defense: Fianchetto Variation, Hastings Defense A63 · 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. g3 c5 4. d5 exd5 5. cxd5 d6 6. Nc3 g6 7. Bg2 Bg7 8. Nf3 O-O 9. O-O Nbd7
- Benoni Defense: Fianchetto Variation, Hastings Defense, Main Line A64 · 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. g3 c5 4. d5 exd5 5. cxd5 d6 6. Nc3 g6 7. Bg2 Bg7 8. Nf3 O-O 9. O-O a6 10. a4 Nbd7 11. Nd2 Re8
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.