Modern Benoni Defense

I have recently become enamored with the Benoni Defense and need resources on the Benoni.  I have read in forums on other chess sites that Benoni books tend to be quite depressing for Black.  The ABC of the Modern Benoni by Andrew Martin looks interesting, but I'm not necessarily sure it covers all important variations.  Does anyone recommend a resource for me to study?

Tal's games?  He played it, I believe.

 works better however takes alot of time and effort. The modern benoni has alot of theory to it and for good reason it is extremely difficult to understand to compentancy. you can know as much opening theory as you like but MB's have tough middle games that take a high level of positional skill to understand and play. So i recomend you do yourself a favour and first play something like the KID to get a good understanding of positional dynamics in the middlegame.

 I have played the KID before, so I have experience in that kind of middlegame.  I am naturally a tactical player and the Benoni looks like it could be just what I am looking for.  I don't think it takes a great amount of positional skill to understand.  Rather, Black really needs to find counterplay and develop ideas to acheive that goal. 

Catalyst: If I wanted to, I could sift through databases until my head was spinning.  That's not what I want to improve my game.

I used to play it alot and won more often than not.  It requires more precision than most openings.  I still play it, but increasingly get into early trouble.  I would get ahold of Fine's Ideas Behind the Openings and wing it.  Good luck.

There is an excellent book that came out years ago (and now can be found fairly cheaply on e-bay or I may even have a copy) called Son of Sorrow by Zeuthan. It was published in Denmark but is in English or is mostly language-less where  he breaks down Benoni pawn structures--lots of older games.  (there is also one on the Gruenfled called ZOOM by Larsen)--this is a great understanding tool. Also Bellin, I think wrote an excellent book on Benoni-KI where he goes over all the main ideas. supplement that with some new material and you are set.

The Benoni is lots of fun to play as Black--as with most openings difficult against very strong players but the ideas and concepts are straight forward and can be understood quite easily.

True - when I played a few Benoni games on this site, it was largely because of seeing Tal's games in the opening. He liked it because it unbalances the position from the off, and can lead to extremely tactically ripe positions.

Have a look at these games by Tal to get an idea of how versatile an opening it can be, especially if you happen to be Tal:

http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chesscollection?cid=1002444

I'll put one in here for people without the time or inclination to go to the link. Note that this game might give you nightmares if you ever come up against the Benoni:

Starting Out Modern Benoni by Endre Vegh is good

The modern benoni can look very depressing for black as the f4 and Bb5+ variations are violent to deal with take this game i am playing now.

Well i got ...Qe6 next and i played Bc4!!

The game is still going on but i should win

Draco: In your game, what did you have planned after 11...Bxb5? If Nxb5, then Nxd5. If exf6, then ...Bxe2, fxe7 Bc4 and Black can capture the pawn on e7. It's certainly a dangerous position, though.

Hi All. I also love playing the Modern Benoni Defense with Black. I prepare replying to white''s 1. d4 with 1...e6, by transposition i was able to avoid white's sharp variation with f3 or f4.

This way i'll be able to play the defense according to my preparation.

A common way to avoid this is don't the MBO if the white plays 3. Nc3 instead of 3. Nf3.  If Nf3 then f4 isn't possible and the Taimanov line can be avoided altogether.  If 3. Nf3 maybe the Nimzo-Indian can be played instead.

The new GM repertoire book on the modern Benoni is very good but advanced. John watson's older book is also quite theoretical. Overall, if you are new to the Benoni, go with the starting out book

Draco that is a very common line - actually the main line now I think. Black cannot reply to bb5+ with Bd7 this is well known - the standard move is Nfd7 and black can achieve a good game... This is one of the sharp positions in the Benoni you MUST know the correct theory for. To avoid this line you can play the KID move order then transpose to more positional benoni structures by playing the c5 setup rather than e5. I would actually start out with benonoi playing like this so you can get a feel for the structure and avoid some of the prepped lines.

Essentially the Benoni is all about blacks b5 push and most of the tactics play around that along with pressure on the half open e file and the long black diagonal. Once you get used to the ideas with it the tactics get easy to spot because you know what you are looking for and will be much more familliar with the position than your opponent. Study this position to get a good feel for this - I think this is the quinticential Benoni position:

Id just like to say I spent a week learning this oppening - I used the database and the videos on chess.com as well as the mentor course and even some discussion in the forum on positions I was unsure about and I'm glad I did because I have won several nice games using it agains 1700+ players and tagged an extra 50 odd points onto my own rating... and I LOVE playing it, its so fun!

Seems I will give this a try.

Just have a look at Marin's books. His book 'Positional chess sacrifices' has a great section on the Benoni. He's a Benoni player himself. 

I certainly wouldn't recommend the Benoni for beginners. But when you get around 1800 and higher, it's an interesting option. 

Benoni is dynamic but as shown by draco_alpine the 8. Bb5+ line is very dangerous for black, I would suggest the King's Indian defense. Very good and dynamic opening as well.