Benoni Defense: Snail Variation
1. d4 c5 2. d5 Na6
The Benoni Defense: Snail Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO A43, reached after 1. d4 c5 2. d5 Na6. 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 29 times by this move order. White won 59%, 0% were drawn and Black won 41%. The most popular continuation is 3. c4 (48% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.85 (Stockfish, depth 34; best line 3. e4 g6 4. c4 Nc7 5. Nc3 d6)
- ECO
- A43
- Moves
- 4 plies
- FEN
r1bqkbnr/pp1ppppp/n7/2pP4/8/8/PPP1PPPP/RNBQKBNR w KQkq - 1 3- PGN
1. d4 c5 2. d5 Na6
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 11 | |
| 1500-1999 | 12 | |
| 2000+ | 6 | |
| All | 29 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 3. c4 | 14 (48%) | |
| 3. e4 | 10 (34%) | |
| 3. Nc3 | 1 (3%) | |
| 3. a3 | 1 (3%) | |
| 3. f3 | 1 (3%) | |
| 3. Bf4 | 1 (3%) | |
| 3. Nf3 | 1 (3%) |
Master games
3 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 33%, draw 67%, Black 0%). The strongest:
- IM Nikola Ostojic (2406) – Petar Spasic (2251) 1/2-1/2 · 1st Liga Central SRB 2020 · 2020-10-12
- CM Hubert Zieba (2233) – FM Tanitoluwa Adewumi (2362) 1/2-1/2 · Titled Tue 24th Jun Late · 2025-06-24
- Witold Szymkiewicz (2098) – CM Bartosz Przybylski (2041) 1-0 · 61st Rubinstein Mem Open · 2025-08-23
Search all games of the Benoni Defense: Snail Variation and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- protoboard555 (2230) – agumanriau (2097) 1-0 · 2026-09-03 · 300 + 0s
- Roy-Mutunhire (2100) – drosera2507 (2150) 1-0 · 2026-09-03 · 600 + 0s
- bvv2311 (2137) – agumanriau (2110) 1-0 · 2026-09-03 · 300 + 0s
Comes from
Benoni Defense: Old Benoni (1… c5 2. d5) 1. d4 c5 2. d5
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 (2. d5 d6) 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.