Benoni Defense: Old Benoni (2. d5 d6)
1. d4 c5 2. d5 d6
The Benoni Defense: Old Benoni is a chess opening classified as ECO A43, reached after 1. d4 c5 2. d5 d6. 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 13,601 times by this move order. White won 49%, 5% were drawn and Black won 46%. The most popular continuation is 3. c4 (62% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.61 (Stockfish, depth 55; best line 3. e4 Nf6 4. Nc3 e6 5. Bb5+ Bd7)
- ECO
- A43
- Moves
- 4 plies
- FEN
rnbqkbnr/pp2pppp/3p4/2pP4/8/8/PPP1PPPP/RNBQKBNR w KQkq - 0 3- PGN
1. d4 c5 2. d5 d6
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 1,621 | |
| 1500-1999 | 8,588 | |
| 2000+ | 3,392 | |
| All | 13,601 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 3. c4 | 8,371 (62%) | |
| 3. e4 | 2,940 (22%) | |
| 3. Nc3 | 1,255 (9%) | |
| 3. Nf3 | 533 (4%) | |
| 3. Bf4 | 147 (1%) | |
| 3. Bg5 | 103 (1%) | |
| 3. g3 | 90 (1%) | |
| 3. c3 | 39 (0%) |
Master games
1,228 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 49%, draw 16%, Black 35%). The strongest:
- Stoofvlees II a14 (3846) – ScorpioNN 3.0.7.1 (3812) 1-0 · TCEC 20 Premier 2020 · 2020-04-07
- ScorpioNN 3.0.7.1 (3812) – Stoofvlees II a14 (3846) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 20 Premier 2020 · 2020-04-04
- LCZero v0.25.1-sv-t60-3010 (3809) – Stoofvlees II a14 (3730) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 18 Premier 2020 · 2020-06-13
- Stoofvlees II a14 (3730) – LCZero v0.25.1-sv-t60-3010 (3809) 0-1 · TCEC 18 Premier 2020 · 2020-06-10
- Reckless 0.9.0-dev-b32e0895 (3741) – Integral 7.0.0-dev-453c1dc4 (3735) 1-0 · TCEC 29 Premier 2026 · 2026-03-20
Search all games of the Benoni Defense: Old Benoni and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- Opteron85 (2653) – GM Nichega (2753) 1-0 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
- MClutjedorp (2658) – X_NOMERCY_X (2726) 1-0 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
- puretraining (2634) – El_Banditoff (2728) 1-0 · 2026-09-06 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Benoni Defense: Old Benoni (1… c5 2. d5) 1. d4 c5 2. d5
Continuations
- Benoni Defense: Old Benoni, Schmid Variation A43 · 1. d4 c5 2. d5 d6 3. Nc3 g6
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, Mujannah Formation A43
- Benoni Defense: Snail Variation 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.