Caissa Codex
A65

Benoni Defense: King's Pawn Line 7. f3 Bg7

Chess diagram: Benoni Defense: King's Pawn Line after 7…Bg7

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

62,201 games: White 45.2% / Draw 4.6% / Black 50.2%

The moves played next. Pick one to see it on the board.
Next moveGamesWhite / Draw / BlackW / D / B
with Be3 16,18616K
with Bg5 15,91016K
8,7308,730
with Nge2 8,1578,157
6,4816,481
2,4252,425
903903
781781

Rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, from the Lichess opening explorer, updated Oct 29, 2026

Engine evaluation

+0.15 The position is about equal

Best play: 8. Be3 O-O 9. Qd2 a6 10. a4 Re8 11. Be2 Qc7 12. Ra3 h5

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

Overview

Benoni Defense: King's Pawn Line (ECO A65, Flank Openings) is a variation of the Benoni Defense: King's Pawn Line, reached after 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. d5 e6 4. Nc3 exd5 5. cxd5 d6 6. e4 g6 7. f3 Bg7 (7 moves).

In 62,201 rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, White won 45.2%, Black 50.2% and 4.6% were drawn. White's most played move here is 8. Be3, in 26% of those games.

It branches into 3 named variations; the most played are Benoni Defense: King's Pawn Line, with Bg5 and Benoni Defense: King's Pawn Line, with Be3.

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How to answer 7…Bg7

8. Bg5 (with Bg5) scores best for White: 52.3%, with White winning 50.0% and Black 45.3% of 16K games. The most played, 8. Be3, scores 46.4% in 16K games, and 8. Bb5+ scores lowest: 42.0%. Stockfish's first choice is 8. Be3.

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

Variations (3)

Other lines from the same position

Instead of 6…g6 7. f3 Bg7, the position after Benoni Defense: King's Pawn Line also goes on to:

Cite this page

Caissa Codex. “Benoni Defense: King's Pawn Line (A65)”. Lichess data as of 29 Oct 2026. https://chesscodex.org/openings/benoni-defense-kings-pawn-line-2

https://chesscodex.org/openings/benoni-defense-kings-pawn-line-2