Caissa Codex
A61

Benoni Defense: Fianchetto Variation

Chess diagram: Benoni Defense: Fianchetto Variation after 7. g3

Type a move and press Enter: e4, Nf3, O-O, or from and to squares like g1f3 (e7e8q to promote). The board is also played with the mouse.

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Statistics from Lichess

88,316 games: White 50.5% / Draw 5.7% / Black 43.8%

The moves played next. Pick one to see it on the board.
Next moveGamesWhite / Draw / BlackW / D / B
85,51386K
2,1252,125
526526
3535
3434
1818
1212
1010

Rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, from the Lichess opening explorer, updated Oct 28, 2026

Engine evaluation

+0.29 The position is about equal

Best play: 7... Bg7 8. Bg2 O-O 9. O-O Re8 10. Bf4 Bf5 11. a4 Ne4 12. Nd2

Stockfish 19, depth 30, after the line's last move. Scores are in pawns, from White's side.

Overview

Benoni Defense: Fianchetto Variation (ECO A61, Flank Openings) is a variation of the Benoni Defense, reached after 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 c5 4. d5 exd5 5. cxd5 d6 6. Nc3 g6 7. g3 (7 moves).

In 88,316 rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, White won 50.5%, Black 43.8% and 5.7% were drawn. Black's most played move here is 7…Bg7, in 97% of those games.

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Other lines from the same position

Instead of 7. g3, the position after Benoni Defense also goes on to:

Cite this page

Caissa Codex. “Benoni Defense: Fianchetto Variation (A61)”. Lichess data as of 28 Oct 2026. https://chesscodex.org/openings/benoni-defense-fianchetto-variation

https://chesscodex.org/openings/benoni-defense-fianchetto-variation