Indian Defense: Pseudo-Benko
1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 c5 3. d5 b5
The Indian Defense: Pseudo-Benko is a chess opening classified as ECO A43, reached after 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 c5 3. d5 b5. It is a line of the Indian Defense. White is to move.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 408 times by this move order. White won 50%, 3% were drawn and Black won 47%. The most popular continuation is 4. c4 (21% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.45 (Stockfish, depth 50; best line 4. e4 Nxe4 5. Bd3 Qa5+ 6. Nbd2 Nf6)
- ECO
- A43
- Moves
- 6 plies
- FEN
rnbqkb1r/p2ppppp/5n2/1ppP4/8/5N2/PPP1PPPP/RNBQKB1R w KQkq - 0 4- PGN
1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 c5 3. d5 b5
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 1 | |
| 1500-1999 | 79 | |
| 2000+ | 328 | |
| All | 408 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 4. c4 | 87 (21%) | |
| 4. Bg5 | 80 (20%) | |
| 4. a4 | 68 (17%) | |
| 4. e4 | 57 (14%) | |
| 4. e3 | 38 (9%) | |
| 4. g3 | 24 (6%) | |
| 4. c3 | 20 (5%) | |
| 4. Nc3 | 12 (3%) |
Master games
2,130 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 43%, draw 17%, Black 40%). The strongest:
- LCZero 0.28-dev+_69626 (3623) – Stockfish 14_202107131735 (3639) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 21 Superfinal 2021 · 2021-08-06
- Stockfish 14_202107131735 (3639) – LCZero 0.28-dev+_69626 (3623) 1-0 · TCEC 21 Superfinal 2021 · 2021-08-06
- Stockfishdev-20240413-c55ae376 (3657) – KomodoDragon3.3 (3592) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 26 Premier 2024 · 2024-05-01
- KomodoDragon3.3 (3592) – Stockfishdev-20240413-c55ae376 (3657) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 26 Premier 2024 · 2024-04-28
- GM Ivan Cheparinov (2670) – GM Magnus Carlsen (2876) 1-0 · Chess24 Banter Blitz Cup · 2020-03-11
Search all games of the Indian Defense: Pseudo-Benko and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- Americanchampion (2747) – kichot78 (2560) 1-0 · 2026-09-02 · 600 + 0s
- classic_chess3456 (2630) – FM FlySooHigh (2599) 1-0 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
- NM ChessOKRU (2586) – GM Ucitelot (2589) 0-1 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 2s
Comes from
Indian Defense: Spielmann-Indian 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 c5
More Indian Defense lines (all)
- Indian Defense (1. d4 Nf6) A45
- Indian Defense: Accelerated London System A45
- Indian Defense: Gedult Attack A45
- Indian Defense: Gibbins-Weidenhagen Gambit A45
- Indian Defense: Gibbins-Weidenhagen Gambit Accepted A45
- Indian Defense: Gibbins-Weidenhagen Gambit, Maltese Falcon A45
- Indian Defense: Gibbins-Weidenhagen Gambit, Oshima Defense A45
- Indian Defense: Gibbins-Weidenhagen Gambit, Stummer Gambit A45
- Indian Defense: Lazard Gambit A45
- Indian Defense: Maddigan Gambit A45
- Indian Defense: Omega Gambit A45
- Indian Defense: Omega Gambit, Arafat Gambit A45
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.