Benoni Defense: Old Benoni, Mujannah Formation
1. d4 c5 2. d5 f5
The Benoni Defense: Old Benoni, Mujannah Formation is a chess opening classified as ECO A43, reached after 1. d4 c5 2. d5 f5. 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 263 times by this move order. White won 47%, 6% were drawn and Black won 47%. The most popular continuation is 3. c4 (65% of games).
Engine evaluation: +1.25 (Stockfish, depth 48; best line 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. e4 fxe4 5. Nge2 d6)
- ECO
- A43
- Moves
- 4 plies
- FEN
rnbqkbnr/pp1pp1pp/8/2pP1p2/8/8/PPP1PPPP/RNBQKBNR w KQkq - 0 3- PGN
1. d4 c5 2. d5 f5
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 14 | |
| 1500-1999 | 127 | |
| 2000+ | 122 | |
| All | 263 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 3. c4 | 170 (65%) | |
| 3. Nc3 | 34 (13%) | |
| 3. e4 Benoni-Staunton Gambit | 18 (7%) | |
| 3. g3 | 11 (4%) | |
| 3. Nf3 | 9 (3%) | |
| 3. Bg5 | 4 (2%) | |
| 3. Bf4 | 4 (2%) | |
| 3. f3 | 3 (1%) |
Master games
342 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 53%, draw 13%, Black 34%). The strongest:
- IM Nico Chasin (2455) – GM Magnus Carlsen (2830) 1-0 · Titled Tue 20th Feb Late · 2024-02-20
- GM Olexandr Bortnyk (2608) – GM Jeffery Xiong (2646) 0-1 · Titled Tue 1st Oct Late · 2024-10-01
- IM Srihari L R (2407) – GM Magnus Carlsen (2835) 0-1 · Titled Tue 8th Aug Early · 2023-08-08
- IM Denis Pershin (2358) – GM Magnus Carlsen (2830) 0-1 · Titled Tue 21st May Late · 2024-05-21
- FM Sondre Melaa (2329) – GM Magnus Carlsen (2831) 0-1 · Titled Tue 12th Nov Early · 2024-11-12
Search all games of the Benoni Defense: Old Benoni, Mujannah Formation and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- mikmikci (2522) – Nat74 (2526) 0-1 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
- manuel-abarca (2559) – Viktor_Tahirov555 (2457) 1-0 · 2026-09-06 · 180 + 0s
- TurkishHairlines (2494) – kintoho (2515) 1-0 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Benoni Defense: Old Benoni (1… c5 2. d5) 1. d4 c5 2. d5
Continuations
- Benoni Defense: Benoni-Staunton Gambit A43 · 1. d4 c5 2. d5 f5 3. e4
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: 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 (2. d5 d6) A43
- Benoni Defense: Old Benoni, Schmid Variation 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.