Opening name: Old Benoni Defence
Opening line: 1. d4 c5
Lichess Board
Wikibooks Page
Winning percentages
White: 3550 (41.92%)
Black: 2260 (26.69%)
Draws: 2658 (31.39%)
1. c5 - Old Benoni Defence
With 1... c5, Black takes a sideways swipe at the central d-pawn. If White answers with 2. d5 the main lines of the Old Benoni Defence are reached. If White accepts the gambit with 2. dxc5, Black gets an easy game with 2... e6 followed by 3... Bc5.
One idea for Black is to transpose to a Modern Benoni while avoiding the Four Pawn Attack, that is, variations with an early f2-f4 for White. Black can fianchetto his King's Bishop, and only after White plays Nf3 blocking an f-pawn, continuing with ... e6 and ... exd5.
Another idea is to keep the h8-a1 diagonal of Black's Bishop open by delaying ... Nf6. Black could then play ... Ne7 instead of ... Nf6, or possibly, if White plays an early Nc3, give up his Bishop by ... Bc3 to double the pawns.
Most popular responses
2. d5 (Old Benoni Defence) Lichess Analysis - Wikibooks (16932562 games)
Engine Evaluation
Depth: 47
Score: +0.65
Best Move: d5
PV Line: 1. d4 c5 2. d5 Nf6 3. c4 b5 4. cxb5 a6 5. e3 axb5 6. Bxb5 Bb7
Historical games for Old Benoni Defence
| Game | Result | Year |
| Aronian, L. (2767) vs Caruana, F. (2822) | 1-0 | 2018 |
| Gelfand, Boris (2733) vs Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar (2772) | 1/2-1/2 | 2011 |
| Wang, Yue (2716) vs Malakhov, Vladimir (2732) | 1/2-1/2 | 2010 |
| Aronian, Levon (2783) vs Zvjaginsev, Vadim (2656) | 1-0 | 2010 |
| Duda, J. (2750) vs Ivanchuk, V. (2678) | 1-0 | 2022 |
| Grachev, Boris (2683) vs Vitiugov, Nikita (2734) | 1/2-1/2 | 2013 |
| Tomashevsky, Evgeny (2707) vs Andreikin, Dmitry (2696) | 1/2-1/2 | 2011 |
| Seirawan, Yasser (2635) vs Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar (2765) | 1-0 | 2011 |
| Ni, Hua (2645) vs Malakhov, Vladimir (2732) | 1/2-1/2 | 2010 |
| Robson, R. (2681) vs Saric, Iv (2695) | 0-1 | 2022 |