Old Benoni: Win Rate by Lichess Rating

Benoni Defense: Old Benoni · 1.d4 c5 · CC0 name list

At 1500–1799 (Lichess rating), Black scored 49.4% in 16,122 Benoni Defense: Old Benoni games (±0.8; games from Oct 2025–Sep 2026).

Black won 47.9% of them, White won 49.1%, and 3.0% were drawn.

No clear difference from 50% at this level (inside the margin)

In games from Oct 2025–Sep 2026, Black scored 49.4% (±0.8) with the Benoni Defense: Old Benoni in sampled Lichess games at the 1500–1799 Lichess rating level (16,122 games). Observed results, not causation.

Data period: games from 1 Oct 2025 – 30 Sep 2026 (sample of the Lichess open database) · Page updated: 9 Oct 2026

2.4%

of rated games at Lichess rating 2100+ reached the Benoni Defense: Old Benoni · 16,879 of 689,970 games, Oct 2025–Sep 2026 sample

Under 1200: 0.4%. At 2100+: 2.4%. 5.5× as common at 2100+ as under 1200.

Position after 1.d4 c5. 65,731 games in this sample reached it.

At a glance

In this sample, White's score ranged from 49.2% (1200–1499) to 50.9% (2100+).
Treat this spread with caution: the margins are approximate (see How it works).
It appeared most often in the 2100+ group (2.4% of that group's games).
Draws were most common in the 2100+ group (4.7%).

These are observed results for the selected games (rated, players within 200 rating points of each other). They describe what happened — they do not prove the opening caused the result.

Results by Lichess rating level

Each row shows how the Benoni Defense: Old Benoni games at one rating level ended: White wins, draws and Black wins, across all time controls combined. Rating level is the average Lichess rating of both players.

White won drawn Black won. Benoni Defense: Old Benoni — results by Lichess rating level, all time controls combined (minimum 300 games per row).

Under 12003,627 gamesCompared with

White wins 49.1% · draws 2.3% · Black wins 48.6% · White's score 50.2% ±1.6 · how common 0.4%
1200–14998,417 games

White wins 47.8% · draws 2.7% · Black wins 49.5% · White's score 49.2% ±1.1 · how common 0.7%
1500–179916,122 games

White wins 49.1% · draws 3.0% · Black wins 47.9% · White's score 50.6% ±0.8 · how common 1.0%
1800–209920,686 games

White wins 48.2% · draws 3.5% · Black wins 48.3% · White's score 50.0% ±0.7 · how common 1.6%
2100+16,879 gamesIn the headline

White wins 48.5% · draws 4.7% · Black wins 46.8% · White's score 50.9% ±0.7 · how common 2.4%

"White's score" = wins + half of draws. "±" is an approximate 95% margin based only on the number of games. It does not cover sampling bias or related games (the same players appear many times), so real uncertainty is larger. "How common" = share of all sampled games at that level that reached this position. Ratings are Lichess ratings; they are not interchangeable with Chess.com or FIDE ratings.

Compare it with another choice from the same position, at the Lichess level and time control you choose: Compare in Find Your Opening (the comparison needs JavaScript)

Results by time control

Each row shows how the Benoni Defense: Old Benoni games ended in one Lichess time control, across all rating levels combined.

Benoni Defense: Old Benoni — results by time control, all rating levels combined (minimum 300 games per row)
Time control	Games	White wins	Draws	Black wins	White's score
Bullet	36,699	48.5%	2.9%	48.6%	50.0%
Blitz	23,831	48.6%	4.1%	47.3%	50.6%
Rapid	5,047	48.2%	4.6%	47.2%	50.5%
Classical	154	Not enough games in this sample

This table and the rating rows are separate summaries: rating levels are not split by time control here, and time controls are not split by rating. Observed results only; approximate uncertainty applies as above.

Most played replies for White at each level

Top replies with at least 150 games. "Score" is White's score after that reply (wins + half of draws). These comparisons alone can't show that one reply is reliably better — the margins are approximate and stronger or weaker players may prefer different replies.

Replies to 1.d4 c5 by Lichess rating level, all time controls combined
Rating level	Reply · share · games · score
Under 1200	2.dxc5 ·33.8% · 1,224 · 49.1% ±2.8 2.d5 ·14.8% · 536 · 52.5% ±4.2 2.Nf3 ·11.3% · 407 · 47.7% ±4.8
1200–1499	2.dxc5 ·26.6% · 2,233 · 48.9% ±2.0 2.d5 ·21.8% · 1,829 · 53.0% ±2.3 2.Nf3 ·10.9% · 916 · 47.7% ±3.2
1500–1799	2.d5 ·27.9% · 4,493 · 51.5% ±1.4 2.dxc5 ·18.3% · 2,952 · 49.3% ±1.8 2.c4 ·11.6% · 1,862 · 50.3% ±2.2
1800–2099	2.d5 ·29.8% · 6,161 · 50.6% ±1.2 2.c4 ·15.2% · 3,152 · 47.6% ±1.7 2.Nf3 ·12.6% · 2,607 · 51.0% ±1.9
2100+	2.d5 ·28.5% · 4,804 · 53.0% ±1.4 2.Nf3 ·17.5% · 2,959 · 50.2% ±1.8 2.c4 ·16.5% · 2,781 · 49.5% ±1.8

Up next: related positions with a page

Related line: 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 (Queen's Gambit Declined)
Related line: 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 (Slav Defense)

Other choices from the same position for Black: each one's own level and score, as on its page
Opening	Lichess rating level	Games	Black's score
vs Indian Defense 1.d4 Nf6	1500–1799	61,882	48.5% ±0.4
vs Horwitz Defense 1.d4 e6	1500–1799	41,735	46.9% ±0.5
vs Englund Gambit 1.d4 e5	1500–1799	31,566	49.9% ±0.5
vs Queen's Pawn Game: Modern Defense 1.d4 g6	1500–1799	21,691	49.4% ±0.7

Each row is a separate page with its own games. A difference smaller than the two margins combined is no clear difference. Observed results, not causation.

Deeper positions with this name

The free opening list gives the name Benoni Defense: Old Benoni to 3 deeper positions on this line as well. This page counts the first one; games in the 12-month sample that reached each deeper one:

1.d4 c5 2.d5: 17,823 games
1.d4 c5 2.d5 d6: 7,250 games
1.d4 c5 2.d5 e5: 1,910 games

Download these numbers: Benoni Defense: Old Benoni (CSV), released under CC0. For move-by-move exploration with your own filters, see the free Lichess opening explorer. This independent page lists each rating level and each time control in its own row for comparison.