Benoni Defense: King's Pawn Line (5… d6 6. e4)
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. d5 e6 4. Nc3 exd5 5. cxd5 d6 6. e4
The Benoni Defense: King's Pawn Line is a chess opening classified as ECO A65, reached after 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. d5 e6 4. Nc3 exd5 5. cxd5 d6 6. e4. It is a line of the Benoni Defense. Black is to move. 3 named lines continue from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 1,915 times by this move order. White won 47%, 5% were drawn and Black won 48%. The most popular continuation is 6… g6 (87% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.68 (Stockfish, depth 54; best line 6… g6 7. f4 Bh6 8. Bd3 O-O 9. Nf3)
- ECO
- A65
- Moves
- 11 plies
- FEN
rnbqkb1r/pp3ppp/3p1n2/2pP4/4P3/2N5/PP3PPP/R1BQKBNR b KQkq - 0 6- PGN
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. d5 e6 4. Nc3 exd5 5. cxd5 d6 6. e4
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 36 | |
| 1500-1999 | 688 | |
| 2000+ | 1,191 | |
| All | 1,915 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 6… g6 | 1,669 (87%) | |
| 6… a6 | 123 (6%) | |
| 6… Be7 | 68 (4%) | |
| 6… Nbd7 | 28 (1%) | |
| 6… Bg4 | 8 (0%) | |
| 6… Qe7 | 7 (0%) | |
| 6… Qa5 | 6 (0%) | |
| 6… Qb6 | 2 (0%) |
Master games
3,025 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 45%, draw 17%, Black 38%). The strongest:
- KomodoDragon 2894.00 (3600) – Stockfish dev15_20220401 (3617) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 22 Superfinal 2022 · 2022-04-12
- Stockfish dev15_20220401 (3617) – KomodoDragon 2894.00 (3600) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 22 Superfinal 2022 · 2022-04-12
- GM So, W. (2752) – GM Hikaru Nakamura (2788) 1/2-1/2 · CCT Final Playoff 2023 · 2023-12-09
- GM So, W. (2760) – GM Richard Rapport (2745) 1/2-1/2 · Superbet Blitz 2023 · 2023-05-25
- GM Baadur Jobava (2717) – GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (2764) 1/2-1/2 · Tashkent FIDE GP 2014 · 2014-11-02
Search all games of the Benoni Defense: King's Pawn Line and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- Mysterious_Spy (2779) – gelyaromanova (2730) 1-0 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
- tractorchampion001 (2761) – GM GogiaMetutune (2708) 1-0 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
- Mallorca10Barcelona (2672) – Rookz77 (2693) 1-0 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Benoni Defense: Modern Variation 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. d5 e6
Continuations
- Benoni Defense: Pawn Storm Variation A66 · 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. d5 e6 4. Nc3 exd5 5. cxd5 d6 6. e4 g6 7. f4
- Benoni Defense: King's Pawn Line (7. f3 Bg7) A65 · 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. d5 e6 4. Nc3 exd5 5. cxd5 d6 6. e4 g6 7. f3 Bg7
- Benoni Defense: Classical Variation (8. Be2 O-O) A72 · 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. d5 e6 4. Nc3 exd5 5. cxd5 d6 6. e4 g6 7. Nf3 Bg7 8. Be2 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.