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Modern Benoni Statistics

Success rates and vital stats for the Modern Benoni:

 

The two databases I’ve used to generate statistics are the following:

Megabase 99

The Week in Chess (TWIC)

Megabase 99 contains over a million games from the earliest games until the end of 1998. All World Championships and most of the major tournaments in history are included in this database.

The Week in Chess contains over 150 thousand games from the time period of 1994 until the present day. Once again most major tournaments are included in this database.

 

MegaBase 99

TWIC (1-245)
No. of games White wins Draws Black wins White score (%) No. of games White wins Draws Black wins White score (%)
Flick Knife 897 460 198 239 62 89 43 17 29 58
Modern Classical 1012 523 287 202 66 202 90 68 44 61
Modern Classical 9...b5 375 177 127 68 65 97 29 45 23 53
Old Classical 2099 843 626 630 55 184 81 49 54 57
Old Classical 9...a6 10 a4 Bg4 563 191 187 185 51 56 15 16 25 41
Fianchetto 1611 586 494 530 52 167 59 45 63 49
6 Nf3 g6 7 h3 (not modern) 43 18 10 15 53 17 6 5 6 50
6 Nf3 g6 7 e4 a6 226 61 69 96 42 60 11 23 26 38

 

Conclusions

1) The Modern Classical Variation is White’s most successful line against the Modern Benoni, although a drop from 66% (Megabase 99) to 61% (TWIC) suggests that some of it’s earlier potency has been lost. The sharp 9...b5 remains Black’s best bet against the Modern Classical. Despite its sacrificial nature, the statistics from TWIC show that the draw is the most frequent result after 9...b5. This suggests that the theory of this sharp line is becoming much more stable.

2) Perhaps surprisingly, the Flick Knife Attack doesn’t score as well as many people would believe. Certainly it’s the least drawish of all the variations.

3) The Old Classical continues to score respectable results for White, with an overall 55% in Megabase. However, lines with ...Bg4 are very successful for Black (an astonishing 59% in TWIC). This has led many White players to try an early Nd2 to cut out this option.

4) Perhaps not surprisingly, the Fianchetto Variation isn’t a great scorer for White.

5) The tricky 6 Nf3 g6 7 e4 a6!? has been scoring fantastically well for Black (this can lead to Old Classical ...Bg4 lines). Black’s amazing score here is tempered slightly by the fact that the average rating of the black players is higher than that of the white players. Some White players are now avoiding this option with 7 h3, which can transpose to the Modern Classical, but also gives Black the option of playing 7...a6 8 a4 Qe7, which has been scoring reasonably.