Benoni Defense: Old Benoni, Schmid Variation
1. d4 c5 2. d5 d6 3. Nc3 g6
The Benoni Defense: Old Benoni, Schmid Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO A43, reached after 1. d4 c5 2. d5 d6 3. Nc3 g6. It is a line of the Benoni Defense. White is to move.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 262 times by this move order. White won 50%, 7% were drawn and Black won 43%. The most popular continuation is 4. e4 (74% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.63 (Stockfish, depth 38; best line 4. e4 Bg7 5. Nf3 Nf6 6. Bc4 Na6)
- ECO
- A43
- Moves
- 6 plies
- FEN
rnbqkbnr/pp2pp1p/3p2p1/2pP4/8/2N5/PPP1PPPP/R1BQKBNR w KQkq - 0 4- PGN
1. d4 c5 2. d5 d6 3. Nc3 g6
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 17 | |
| 1500-1999 | 123 | |
| 2000+ | 122 | |
| All | 262 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 4. e4 | 194 (74%) | |
| 4. Nf3 | 26 (10%) | |
| 4. Bf4 | 19 (7%) | |
| 4. Bg5 | 11 (4%) | |
| 4. h4 | 4 (2%) | |
| 4. e3 | 3 (1%) | |
| 4. g3 | 2 (1%) | |
| 4. b3 | 1 (0%) |
Master games
110 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 39%, draw 16%, Black 45%). The strongest:
- GM Sam Shankland (2672) – GM Karthik Venkataraman (2603) 1-0 · World Blitz 2024 · 2024-12-30
- GM Aleksandar Indjic (2602) – GM Pranesh M (2644) 1-0 · 1st 3-0 Thu 25th Jun 2026 · 2026-06-25
- GM Olexandr Bortnyk (2604) – GM Haik M. Martirosyan (2636) 0-1 · 3rd 3-0 Thu 28th May 2026 · 2026-05-28
- GM Hrant Melkumyan (2625) – GM Robert Hovhannisyan (2592) 0-1 · 74th ch-ARM 2014 · 2014-01-21
- IM Vasiliy Korchmar (2450) – GM Vasyl Ivanchuk (2678) 0-1 · Tetraktys Concept Mgmt Bl · 2021-06-06
Search all games of the Benoni Defense: Old Benoni, Schmid Variation and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- Mitichkin_Ivan (2595) – Saverio3 (2407) 1-0 · 2026-09-06 · 180 + 0s
- Szekesfehervar (2506) – mrsnckl (2444) 1-0 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
- firlus (2452) – Saverio3 (2459) 1-0 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Benoni Defense: Old Benoni (2. d5 d6) 1. d4 c5 2. d5 d6
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, 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.