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
The Benoni Defense: Four Pawns Attack is a chess opening classified as ECO A68, 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. It is a line of the Benoni Defense. White is to move. 1 named line continues from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 119 times by this move order. White won 47%, 7% were drawn and Black won 46%. The most popular continuation is 9. Bd3 (48% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.26 (Stockfish, depth 34; best line 9. Be2 Re8 10. e5 dxe5 11. fxe5 Ng4)
- ECO
- A68
- Moves
- 16 plies
- FEN
rnbq1rk1/pp3pbp/3p1np1/2pP4/4PP2/2N2N2/PP4PP/R1BQKB1R w KQ - 3 9- 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
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 1500-1999 | 39 | |
| 2000+ | 80 | |
| All | 119 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 9. Bd3 | 57 (48%) | |
| 9. Be2 | 48 (40%) | |
| 9. e5 | 5 (4%) | |
| 9. Bc4 | 4 (3%) | |
| 9. h3 | 3 (3%) | |
| 9. h4 | 2 (2%) |
Master games
146 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 36%, draw 16%, Black 48%). The strongest:
- GM Alireza Firouzja (2777) – IM Matvey Galchenko (2438) 0-1 · Titled Tue 24th Oct Early · 2023-10-24
- GM Ivan Ivanisevic (2655) – IM Aleksandar Indjic (2535) 0-1 · Gligoric Cup 2013 · 2013-05-21
- GM Leonardo Tristan (2535) – GM Ngoc Truong Son Nguyen (2641) 1/2-1/2 · Titled Tue 11th Aug · 2020-08-11
- GM Evgeny E. Vorobiov (2584) – IM Aleksandar Indjic (2502) 0-1 · 29th Open · 2013-02-24
- IM Levy Rozman (2346) – GM Mustafa Yilmaz (2631) 0-1 · Titled Tuesday 7th Dec · 2021-12-07
Search all games of the Benoni Defense: Four Pawns Attack and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- tractorchampion001 (2761) – GM GogiaMetutune (2708) 1-0 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
- KingChessT007 (2509) – MiniSip (2584) 0-1 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
- lionisback (2494) – Tsalko_vadim (2421) 1-0 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Benoni Defense: Pawn Storm Variation 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. d5 e6 4. Nc3 exd5 5. cxd5 d6 6. e4 g6 7. f4
Continuations
- Benoni Defense: Four Pawns Attack, Main Line A69 · 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
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.