Modern Benoni by GM Magesh and GM Arun

This week we shall see the Modern Benoni with 7.h3. The Benoni is back in fashion thanks to the efforts of Gashimov and Topalov. They revived this system with great effort and introduced exceptional ideas to make this system a dangerous option against 1.d4.

The 6.h3 system has been very popular and many forced lines have been studied in detail. The idea behind this move is to stop Bg4, taking the Knight on f3. Since Black's position is cramped in most of the lines he would be happy to exchange a couple of pieces in order to have a proper development plan.

When White's dark bishop is developed to f4 often it is chased by the Knight on f6 with Nh5. So h3 is again a useful move to retreat the bishop to h2. 

Our game today is between Pashikian and Berg, played only a few weeks back. White played a rare move on move 13 and had a decent opening advantage. Black just collapsed when he tried to create counter chances on move 18.

Probably Black should have played 14. ... Bxc3 which would have been more challenging for white since he had to prove his compensation for the sacrificed pawn. After 9.Bd3 b5 10. Nxb5 white is doing extremely well in this position. But the regular 13. Na3 itself was causing problems for Black and again 13. Nc3 is also looking dangerous until Black comes up with a clear idea to defend against it.