Benoni Defense: King's Pawn Line, with Bg5 (6… c5 7. d5)
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. f3 O-O 6. Bg5 c5 7. d5
The Benoni Defense: King's Pawn Line, with Bg5 is a chess opening classified as ECO A65, reached after 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. f3 O-O 6. Bg5 c5 7. d5. It is a line of the Benoni Defense. Black is to move. 4 named lines continue from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 61 times by this move order. White won 44%, 4% were drawn and Black won 52%. The most popular continuation is 7… e6 (51% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.12 (Stockfish, depth 60; best line 7… e6 8. Qd2 exd5 9. cxd5 a6 10. a4)
- ECO
- A65
- Moves
- 13 plies
- FEN
rnbq1rk1/pp2ppbp/3p1np1/2pP2B1/2P1P3/2N2P2/PP4PP/R2QKBNR b KQ - 0 7- PGN
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. f3 O-O 6. Bg5 c5 7. d5
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 1 | |
| 1500-1999 | 15 | |
| 2000+ | 45 | |
| All | 61 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 7… e6 | 31 (51%) | |
| 7… h6 | 10 (16%) | |
| 7… a6 | 7 (11%) | |
| 7… Nbd7 | 6 (10%) | |
| 7… Na6 | 2 (3%) | |
| 7… Qa5 | 2 (3%) | |
| 7… Re8 | 1 (2%) | |
| 7… a5 | 1 (2%) |
Master games
335 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 44%, draw 20%, Black 36%). The strongest:
- GM Magnus Carlsen (2839) – GM Aleksandr Shimanov (2578) 1-0 · Titled Tue 11th Nov 2025 · 2025-11-11
- GM Magnus Carlsen (2839) – GM Federico Perez Ponsa (2528) 1-0 · 1st 3-0 Thursday Nov 13th 2025 · 2025-11-13
- GM Anton Korobov (2652) – GM Bassem Amin (2693) 0-1 · 80th Tata Steel GpB · 2018-01-21
- GM Magnus Carlsen (2839) – IM Reza Mahdavi (2492) 0-1 · 1st 3-0 Thursday Nov 13th 2025 · 2025-11-13
- GM Magnus Carlsen (2837) – IM Teodora Injac (2457) 1-0 · Titled Tue 24th Jun Late · 2025-06-24
Search all games of the Benoni Defense: King's Pawn Line, with Bg5 and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- maxdvoryadkin (2478) – Pescaderocalvo (2564) 1-0 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
- PeterPantz (2460) – Grifo2003 (2569) 0-1 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 2s
- FM BonaventuraB (2469) – tough-guy (2539) 1-0 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
King's Indian Defense: Steiner Attack (5… O-O 6. Bg5) 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. f3 O-O 6. Bg5
Continuations
- King's Indian Defense: Steiner Attack (7… h6 8. Bf4) E81 · 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. f3 O-O 6. Bg5 c5 7. d5 h6 8. Bf4
- Benoni Defense: King's Pawn Line, with Bg5 (8… exd5 9. exd5) A65 · 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. f3 O-O 6. Bg5 c5 7. d5 e6 8. Qd2 exd5 9. exd5
- King's Indian Defense: Steiner Attack (8… exd5 9. Nxd5) E81 · 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. f3 O-O 6. Bg5 c5 7. d5 e6 8. Qd2 exd5 9. Nxd5
- King's Indian Defense: Steiner Attack (8… h6 9. Bxh6) E81 · 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. f3 O-O 6. Bg5 c5 7. d5 e6 8. Qd2 h6 9. Bxh6
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.