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Benoni Defence Overview

Benoni Defence Overview

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Winning with the Benoni Defense

1. d4 Nf6 c4 c5



The Benoni Defense is an uncommon and aggressive opening against d4. It is characterised by the moves Nf6 and c5 against white playing d4 and c4 but can be transposed from other openings such as the Old Benoni Defense (d4 c5!?) as well as the English Opening Symmetrical Variation. Black fights back in the centre with their c pawn, forcing white to make an immediate decision whether to capture the pawn, push their d pawn forward or to defend with Nf3. It is a great choice since many opponents would be surprised by the move. It's an aggressive line by black and can lead to many attacking positions and unbalances the pawn structure, but may lead to cramped positions as white could apply pressure and gain an advantage with the space advantage they have. The Benoni Defense has been used occasionally by several prominent players in the past and modern eras, but is quite rare. It is a popular weapon in club and intermediate chess.

 3. d5


This is considered the mainline in the Benoni Defense, white pushes their pawn forwards and controls more space. This is their first mistake as the two lines I recommend immediately have the goal to undermine their pawn structure. Those two being 3... b5!? (the Benko Gambit) and 3... e6, both having their pros and cons. My issue with playing 3... e6 is that people may have prepared against this line and if good preparation, your opponent may reach a favourable position with lines such as 8. Bb5+ (the Taimanov Attack) where you may feel the squeeze of whites space advantage, though it is definitely playable. 3... b5 immediately attacks white's c4 pawn with the goal of sacrificing another pawn with 4... a6 when after 4. cxb5 a6 5. bxa6 Bxa6, you have a powerful bishop that threatens whites kingside. Later on, when fianchettoing your other bishop with g6 Bg7 you have applied immense pressure on whites position.


3... e6 is considered the mainline of the Benoni Defense. It immediately attacks the white pawn on d5 and forces white to make a decision. The mainline is 4. Nc3, though let's look into other possible moves. Taking the pawn (4. dxe6) is a mistake since black plays 4... fxe6 and is completely fine with a potential push for a full centre with d5 (Sample line goes as follows: 4. dxe6 fxe6 5. Nf3 d5 6.Bf4 Nc6... where black is fine). Another possible move is 4. Nf3, developing a knight into the centre. One way of playing this with black is to immediately trade off the centre pawns with 4... exd5 which usually transposes into the mainline Benoni,  though I recommend the move 4... b5!? the Blumenfeld Countergambit. This position can also be reached from the Benko Gambit (1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. d5 b5!? Nf3 [Benko Gambit Declined Mainline] e6!?). Black is essentially giving up a pawn (5. dxe6 fxe6 cxb5 d5) for the full centre. We will look further into the Blumenfeld below.

4. Nc3



 This is the most common move for white after 3... e6. The next few moves are almost always played in some order: exd5 5. cxd5 d6 (locking the centre) 6. e4 (taking the centre) g6 (preparing to fianchetto the bishop). White here has 4 main moves, 7. f4 (the Pawn Storm variation, an aggressive response aiming to take even more space in the centre of the board and preparing a kingside attack), 7. Nf3 (the Classical variation, a more solid move and developing a piece), 7. Bd3 (the Penrose variation) and 7. Bb5+. Most of these variations can be dealt with the same response Bg7 followed by O-O for black, with moves such as Nf3 and Bd3 for white are usually played afterwards. With 7. Bb5+, blocking the check with 7... Bd7 followed by 8. Bxd7 Nxd7 and black is doing fine.

An extremely aggressive and fascinating gambit for white arises from 7. f4 (the Pawn Storm variation): Bg7 8. Nf3 O-O 9. Be2 Re8 10. e5 dxe5 11. fxe5 Ng4 12. e6 fxe6 13. d6
8. Bb5+ [The Terrifying Taimanov]


 This is the one reasons why people prefer the Benko Gambit over the Mainline Benoni. 8. Bb5+ (the Taimanov Attack) is single handily one of the most annoying variations in the game of chess, one incorrect move and white plays e5, blasting the position open and killing brutalising the black king since he's not been castled yet. The only move that gives a fighting chance is retreating the knight to block the check, 8... Nfd7. (8... Nbd7, Bd7 and Kf8 all get hit by e5).
- if 8... Bd7 (9. e5 Nh5 10. Nf3 O-O 11. Bxd7 Qxd7 12. O-O Na6 13. Ne4 dxe5 14. fxe5 Rae8 15. Re1 Nb4 16. d6 b6 17. Nf2 Nc6 18. g4 Nxe5 19. Nxe5 Bxe5 20. gxh5 Bxd6 21. Bd2 Rxe1+ 22. Bxe1 Qe7) and white is just crushing
- if Nbd7 (9. e5 dxe5 10. fxe5 Nh5 11. e6 Qh4+ 12. g3 Nxg3 13. hxg3 Qxh1 14. Be3 Bxc3+ 15. bxc3 a6 16. exd7+ Bxd7 17... O-O 18. Kf2) and white is just crushing
-if Nfd7 (9. a4 a6 10. Be2 O-O 11. Nf3 c4 12. Be3 Bxc3+ 13. bxc3 Nf6 14. Qd4 Re8 15. Nd2 Qe7 16. O-O Nxe4 17. Nxc4 Nd7) and white is slightly better

 All in all, the Taimanov Attack is the Benoni-killer, many people hate it due to it's sheer success. Be wary of this move. 

Bonus: THE BLUMENFELD COUNTERGAMBIT

The Blumenfeld Countergambit arises after the following moves

    1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. d5 b5 4. Nf3 e6
  • OR
    1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. d5 e6 4. Nf3 b5
  • With 2 pawns under fire, white usually will play dxe6, where black should continue with fxe6. The gambit is accepted once white plays the move cxb5, where the point of the gambit is revealed when black plays d5, taking the entire centre for the cost of a pawn. According to the lichess database, after the moves [7. e3 (opens up the bishop and defends the b5 pawn) Bd6 (developing a piece) 8. Nc3 (developing a piece) O-O (bringing the king to safety) 9. Be2 (another developing move) Bb7 (fianchettoing the bishop to the h1-a8 diagonal) 10. O-O (normal developing move) Nbd7 (normal developing move)] which have been played the most, black already wins 63% of the time (draws 4% and loses 33%). White usually tries to hang onto their b-pawn and create a 2on1 situation by playing 11. a4, but after the moves 11... Rc8 12. a5 Qe7 13. a6 Ba8, black maintains pressure on the diagonal and white can't advance the pawns further. This is a great gambit where black gets adequate compensation for the lost pawn for better development, space and centre control.


    Position after 13... Ba8

     Sample game: 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. d5 b5 4. cxb5 e6 5. dxe6 fxe6 6. Nc3 d5 7. e3 Bb7 8. Nf3 Nbd7 9. a4 Bd6 10. a5 Rc8 11. a6 Ba8 12. Be2 O-O 13. O-O Qe7 14. Na4 e5 15. b3 e4 16. Nh4 Qe5 17. g3 Qxa1 18. Nf5 Bb8 19. Ne7+ Kh8 20. Nxc8 Rxc8 21. Qc2 Qe5 22. Bb2 Qe6 23. Rd1 Ne5 24. Nxc5 Qh3 25. Bxe5 Bxe5 26. b4 d4 27. exd4 e3 28. Bf1 exf2+ 29. Qxf2 Qh5 30. dxe5 Qxd1 31. exf6 Qd5 32. fxg7+ Kxg7 33. Qb2+ Kg8 34. Qf6 Qh1+ 35. Kf2 Qxh2+ 36. Ke1 Qxg3+ 37. Kd1 Bd5 38. Ne6 Bb3+ 39. Kd2 Rc2+ 40. Kd1 0-1