Benoni Defense: Fianchetto Variation, Hastings Defense
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
The Benoni Defense: Fianchetto Variation, Hastings Defense is a chess opening classified as ECO A63, 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 9. O-O Nbd7. 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 2 times by this move order. White won 100%, 0% were drawn and Black won 0%. The most popular continuation is 10. Bf4 (50% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.54 (Stockfish, depth 34; best line 10. Bf4 Qe7 11. a4 a6 12. h3 Nh5)
- ECO
- A63
- Moves
- 18 plies
- FEN
r1bq1rk1/pp1n1pbp/3p1np1/2pP4/8/2N2NP1/PP2PPBP/R1BQ1RK1 w - - 6 10- 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 9. O-O Nbd7
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 2000+ | 2 | |
| All | 2 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 10. Bf4 | 1 (50%) | |
| 10. Nd2 | 1 (50%) |
Master games
101 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 23%, draw 30%, Black 47%). The strongest:
- GM Francisco Vallejo Pons (2711) – GM Ruslan Ponomariov (2709) 1/2-1/2 · European Blitz 2016 · 2016-12-17
- GM Jeffery Xiong (2652) – GM Sandro Mareco (2648) 0-1 · St Louis Spring Classic A · 2017-05-21
- GM Pavel Ponkratov (2610) – GM Evgeny Alekseev (2653) 1-0 · ch-RUS Rapid 2015 · 2015-05-13
- GM Krzysztof Bulski (2534) – GM Evgeny Alekseev (2714) 0-1 · Universiade Men · 2013-07-12
- GM Evgeniy Najer (2659) – GM Kirill Alekseenko (2588) 1-0 · Aeroflot Open A 2017 · 2017-02-23
Highest-rated Lichess games
- Chess1Love0 (2795) – winx_m (2950) 1-0 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 0s
- F1nal_Masquerade (2796) – FM Hypermolnia (2543) 1-0 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 2s
Comes from
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
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.