Benoni Defense: Four Pawns Attack, Main Line
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. d5 e6 4. Nc3 exd5 5. cxd5 d6 6. e4 g6 7. f4 Bg7 8. Nf3 O-O 9. Be2 Re8
The Benoni Defense: Four Pawns Attack, Main Line is a chess opening classified as ECO A69, reached after 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. d5 e6 4. Nc3 exd5 5. cxd5 d6 6. e4 g6 7. f4 Bg7 8. Nf3 O-O 9. Be2 Re8. 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 23 times by this move order. White won 48%, 4% were drawn and Black won 48%. The most popular continuation is 10. e5 (70% of games).
Engine evaluation: 0.00 (Stockfish, depth 44; best line 10. e5 dxe5 11. fxe5 Ng4 12. e6 fxe6)
- ECO
- A69
- Moves
- 18 plies
- FEN
rnbqr1k1/pp3pbp/3p1np1/2pP4/4PP2/2N2N2/PP2B1PP/R1BQK2R w KQ - 5 10- PGN
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. d5 e6 4. Nc3 exd5 5. cxd5 d6 6. e4 g6 7. f4 Bg7 8. Nf3 O-O 9. Be2 Re8
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 1500-1999 | 4 | |
| 2000+ | 19 | |
| All | 23 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 10. e5 | 16 (70%) | |
| 10. Qc2 | 4 (17%) | |
| 10. Nd2 | 2 (9%) | |
| 10. O-O | 1 (4%) |
Master games
52 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 46%, draw 14%, Black 40%). The strongest:
- FM Read Samadov (2442) – GM Alexandr Fier (2567) 0-1 · Titled Tue 21st Jun Early · 2022-06-21
- IM Robert Piliposyan (2415) – IM Matthew J Wadsworth (2476) 1-0 · Titled Tue 8th Jul Late · 2025-07-08
- FM Barad Yeganegi (2347) – GM Pa Iniyan (2524) 0-1 · Titled Tue 1st Oct Early · 2024-10-01
- FM Lefong Hua (2305) – GM Artur Gabrielian (2458) 1/2-1/2 · Titled Tuesday 6th Oct · 2020-10-06
- FM Lefong Hua (2305) – FM Namitbir Singh Walia (2364) 1-0 · Titled Tue 25th Apr Early · 2023-04-25
Search all games of the Benoni Defense: Four Pawns Attack, Main Line and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- KingChessT007 (2509) – MiniSip (2584) 0-1 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
- lionisback (2494) – Tsalko_vadim (2421) 1-0 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 0s
- YoungDumbledore (2355) – FM MrBadbeat (2432) 0-1 · 2026-09-06 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Benoni Defense: Four Pawns Attack 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. d5 e6 4. Nc3 exd5 5. cxd5 d6 6. e4 g6 7. f4 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.