Benoni Defense: French Benoni
1. e4 e6 2. d4 c5 3. d5
The Benoni Defense: French Benoni is a chess opening classified as ECO A43, reached after 1. e4 e6 2. d4 c5 3. d5. It is a line of the Benoni Defense. Black is to move.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 6,136 times by this move order. White won 52%, 3% were drawn and Black won 45%. The most popular continuation is 3… exd5 (40% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.52 (Stockfish, depth 50; best line 3… Nf6 4. Nc3 d6 5. Nf3 Be7 6. Bd3)
- ECO
- A43
- Moves
- 5 plies
- FEN
rnbqkbnr/pp1p1ppp/4p3/2pP4/4P3/8/PPP2PPP/RNBQKBNR b KQkq - 0 3- PGN
1. e4 e6 2. d4 c5 3. d5
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 1,695 | |
| 1500-1999 | 3,787 | |
| 2000+ | 654 | |
| All | 6,136 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 3… exd5 | 2,460 (40%) | |
| 3… d6 | 1,583 (26%) | |
| 3… Nf6 | 690 (11%) | |
| 3… e5 | 602 (10%) | |
| 3… Qb6 | 200 (3%) | |
| 3… Qc7 | 182 (3%) | |
| 3… a6 | 99 (2%) | |
| 3… b6 | 66 (1%) |
Master games
252 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 55%, draw 12%, Black 33%). The strongest:
- GM Klementy Sychev (2552) – GM Jan-Krzysztof Duda (2726) 0-1 · Titled Tue 17th Oct Early · 2023-10-17
- GM Aleksei Pridorozhni (2596) – GM David Anton Guijarro (2681) 1-0 · Titled Tuesday 13th Oct · 2020-10-13
- GM Sergey Drygalov (2530) – GM Jan-Krzysztof Duda (2739) 0-1 · 2nd 3-0 Thu 25th Jun 2026 · 2026-06-25
- GM Federico Perez Ponsa (2527) – GM Jan-Krzysztof Duda (2732) 0-1 · Titled Tue 18th Jul Late · 2023-07-18
- GM Nikolas Theodorou (2611) – GM Adam Kozak (2601) 1-0 · Titled Tue 18th Feb Early · 2025-02-18
Search all games of the Benoni Defense: French Benoni and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- FM Squoznyak (2873) – FM Guary1 (2907) 1-0 · 2026-09-06 · 180 + 0s
- TestoTester (2579) – VoinTeka (2570) 1-0 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 2s
- blindcrocodile (2576) – FM BonaventuraB (2477) 1-0 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
French Defense: Franco-Sicilian Defense 1. e4 e6 2. d4 c5
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: 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
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.