A65

Benoni Defense: King's Pawn Line

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Statistics from Lichess

1,919,040 games: White 49.2% / Draw 4.5% / Black 46.3%

The moves played next. Pick one to see it on the board.
Next move	Games	White / Draw / BlackW / D / B
	1,169,6681.2M
	386,954387K
	150,529151K
	85,76586K
	49,72850K
	27,46827K
	15,92416K
	10,02310K

Rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, from the Lichess opening explorer, updated Nov 6, 2026

Engine evaluation

+0.94 White is better

Best play: 6... g6 7. f4 Bg4 8. Nf3 Nbd7 9. h3 Bxf3 10. Qxf3 Bg7 11. Bc4

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

By rating

Rating changes little here: White scores 53% under 1400, 52% at 2200 and up and 60% in master games (wins plus half the draws).

Players	Games	White / Draw / BlackW / D / B
Under 1400	57K
1400–1799	498K
1800–2199	1.2M
2200 and up	360K
Masters, over the board	6,056

Master games

Rated blitz, rapid and classical Lichess games by rating band, and over-the-board games of players rated 2200+ from the Lichess masters database, updated Sep 27, 2026

Overview

Benoni Defense: King's Pawn Line (ECO A65, Flank Openings) is a variation of the Benoni Defense: Modern Variation, reached after 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. d5 e6 4. Nc3 exd5 5. cxd5 d6 6. e4 (6 moves).

In 1,919,040 rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, White won 49.2%, Black 46.3% and 4.5% were drawn. Black's most played move here is 6…g6, in 61% of those games.

It branches into 3 named variations; the most played are Benoni Defense: Pawn Storm Variation and Benoni Defense: Classical Variation. In all, 15 named lines continue from it.

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Description

How to play against the Benoni Defense: King's Pawn Line

The most played answer, 6…g6, also scores best for Black: 50.7%, with Black winning 48.3% and White 46.9% of 1.2M games. Of the main answers, 6…Be7 scores lowest: 45.1%. Stockfish's first choice is also 6…g6.

Main answers: those played in at least 5% of these games. Score: Black's wins plus half the draws, in rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500. How to play against other popular openings

Popularity by year

The Benoni Defense: King's Pawn Line has lost ground since 2016: 0.071% of Lichess games in 2025, down from 0.087% (its peak: 0.1% in 2018).

0.087%0.071%0.1%

Numbers by year

Year	Share of games	Games
2016	0.087%	31,227
2017	0.089%	48,825
2018	0.1%	78,157
2019	0.09%	112,529
2020	0.081%	238,495
2021	0.069%	270,372
2022	0.07%	262,737
2023	0.07%	262,493
2024	0.071%	253,550
2025	0.071%	248,012
2026 (Jan–Apr)	0.072%	79,185

Share of rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500 (blitz, rapid and classical) that reach this position, by year; 2026: January to April. Which openings are rising and falling

Variations (3)

All 15 named lines that continue from here

Cite this page

Caissa Codex. “Benoni Defense: King's Pawn Line (A65)”. Lichess data as of 6 Nov 2026. https://chesscodex.org/openings/benoni-defense-kings-pawn-line