Try 2.d5 against 1...c5
Play 2.d5 in your next ten games against the Old Benoni to gain space and stop giving away queen tempi on move 3 to 5.
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Old Benoni Defense
Your best-scoring defence to face: 74% against 1...c5, from London autopilot and patience.
Score74%+25% vs your average
Win chance after move 1253%+1% vs your average
Blunders per game0.86−0.36 vs your average
Clock left at move 102:33−6s vs your average
8
76
5
4
3
2
a1
bc
d
efgh1. d4 c5 2. Bf4 cxd4 3. Qxd4 Nc6 4. Qd2
What it says about you
Your opponents throw 1...c5 at your 1.d4 hoping to knock the London off its script, and it mostly doesn't work. You don't panic in an unfamiliar structure. You take the pawn back, develop and wait for them to overreach. That points to a player who is comfortable when the opponent is the one taking risks.
How you play it
You grab back on d4 with the queen (2.Bf4 cxd4 3.Qxd4 Nc6 4.Qd2) and come out of the opening only slightly ahead, with move-12 win chance at 53.0 against your 52.1 baseline. The real gap opens in the middlegame: move-20 win chance jumps to 65.8, and you score 74.1% (21-7-1) against a 49.2% overall. You are also unusually clean here. You average 0.86 blunders a game against 1.22 overall, and you convert 20 of 24 winning positions, which is far better than your 59% conversion leak. The only warning is the recent sample: 4 games at 50%.
Last 90 days: 4 games, 50% score.
What you're missing
- 01
Your early queen trip can backfire. In one recent game 5.Qd2 (Qe3 was best) dropped a bishop and took you from 39% to 10% on move 5, with 173 seconds still on the clock. That is a pure opening accident, not a time-pressure one.
- 02
You missed exd6 twice in a row (moves 18 and 19, 82% to 57% and 87% to 54%). That looks like an en passant capture, or at least a pawn capture into the centre, that you didn't consider. You played Rxd5 and then Qh5 instead of the simple pawn take.
- 03
Early errors run at 0.62 per game, and 2 of your 7 losses were decided in the opening. For a line where you end up at 74%, that is a lot of self-inflicted early damage.
- 04
You spend more clock early than usual (152.7s at move 10 against 159.2 baseline), and one loss was a timeout in a playable position. The 36.g5 slip (Qb7+ was winning) came with 14 seconds left.
How to improve it
- 01
Against 1...c5 the most principled reply is 2.d5, which grabs space and gives you a Benoni structure where e4, Nc3 and a quiet kingside build are easy to play quickly. If you'd rather stay in London mode, 2.e3 or 2.c3 keeps your structure and avoids handing out queen tempi.
- 02
If you do recapture 3.Qxd4, remember that ...Nc6 gains a tempo and ...Qb6 or ...e5 ideas target b2 and your Bf4. Before every queen move, check which of your pieces lose their defender.
- 03
In the resulting open centre, look at pawn captures first (exd6, cxd5). Your recent misses were all simple pawn takes that you walked past to make a piece move.
- 04
Once you're winning (you usually are here), trade queens and simplify. Your 20/24 conversion in this line proves that simple play works.
Where it goes wrong
Your losses in this opening, by where and how the decisive mistake happened.
Phase of the decisive mistake
What the mistake was
Variations you reach
| Main line | 27 | 76% |
Winning positions converted here: 83% (20 of 24).
Recent mistakes in this opening
Your move in red, Stockfish's in black.
876
5
4
3
2a1b
c
d
efghvs tigre134 (1507) · 28-08-26 →
87
65
4
3
2a1
b
cde
f
g
hvs tigre134 (1507) · 28-08-26 →
87
65
4
3
2a1
b
cd
e
f
g
hvs tigre134 (1507) · 28-08-26 →
8
7
65
43
2a1
b
c
d
ef
g
h
vs tigre134 (1507) · 28-08-26 →
Next steps
Scan pawn captures first
In open centres, check every pawn capture (including en passant) before any piece move. The exd6 miss cost you twice in one game.
Queen-move safety check
Before any early queen move, ask what it stops defending. 5.Qd2 left a bishop loose while you still had 173 seconds on the clock.
Drill it
Puzzles built from your own mistakes in the Old Benoni Defense, and every game you've played in it.