The Benoni Defense is a solid, well-known opening at higher levels. The "old" Benoni move order may surprise the unprepared, but White usually just plays 2. d5 and play will transpose into the mainlines where both sides have thematic play.
As far as in the second diagram, White would rarely play 3. Nc3 because 3. c4 is still opening book and then Nc3 can perhaps be played later (without "blocking" the c-pawn like in the diagram line posted).
I think it's fine for most of us. What you'll find as well is that "system" players will avoid the best line of 2 d5.
As for the transposition to the Morra, I'd play 1d4 c5 all day long if white was to venture 2d4 :-)
This guy has some good stuff on Benoni lines:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCkJdvwRC-oGPhRHW_XPNokg
The problem with the Old Benoni is that White gets a significant advantage by NOT playing c4. This leaves the square available for the King's Knight (Ng1 - f3 - d2 - c4), attacking the d6 weakness. The other Knight goes to c3, combined with a4 to stop ...b5. The Bishop goes to f4 against Schmid/Half benonis (e7-e6-xd5), and against the Closed Benoni (...e7-e5), there are other avenues for White that I don't recall the theory of as I quit playing d4 a while ago, and do not play this as Black. Only benoni I would play as Black is the Czech Benoni (1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 e5), though there is nothing systemically wrong with the Modern Benoni. The key thing is that Black waits for c4 before playing ...c5. WIth a pawn on c4, no White Knight is going to c4, and in the Modern Benoni, where Black has already developed a few of his pieces before doing ...exd5, White doesn't have time to swing the Knight around.
Its one of my favourite openings against black. I usually play it to punish those who try to play the queens gambit against me.
I think benoni is very good, but personally I prefer QGD, Slav, and east indian (I dont play east indian, but I like its concepts more than benoni.) over it.
Almost tried it out until I found out it's another vile fianchetto based system. I despise either side of a pawn pusher fianchetto
it is very nice opening i played 102 games and there were 5 draws 2 loss and 95 wins
Almost tried it out until I found out it's another vile fianchetto based system. I despise either side of a pawn pusher fianchetto
Pardon? The Black Bishop goes to e7 in the Old Benoni. Not to g7.
That's what makes it an OLD Benoni.
According to lichess / C.C the old benoni is just 1... c5. And since I need a term for 1... c5 I'll continue calling it the old benoni.
Anyway, if I were going to play this I'd use this early fiancetto, there are some interesting trades if white doesn't get the move order precisely correct -
I like the modern Benoni better, I’ve found it to be a good way to get a chaotic game after 1 d4. I go for jobava London as white and always hated when my opponents played early c5 so I started playing it as black and am doing quite well with it. Some say it’s dubious but others like it. Fischer Spassky 1972 game 3 of the world championship is a nice master game to go through. Finegold has a YouTube video on it.
Dispensing with the London and other junk / sidelines (Zukertort, Psuedo Catalan, Veresov / Jobava, even most of the Colle, Trompowsky, etc.) is the biggest upside the Benoni has. I don't think an early Nc3 is so prohibitive it's worth foregoing that. The engine thinks the early Nc3 is no different than an early c4. As a benoni player you already accept a somewhat dubious position. And if you're willing to accept all that junk... just play a benko or a blumenfeld. To play a real benoni effectively you're gonna need to focus all your attention on it and go deep.
#11
I believe that 1… c5 is the Old Benoni move order because of the Nc4 idea as shown by thrillerfan earlier, but it doesn’t necessarily have to actually play into the Old Benoni — I have played it for years now as a transposition into the Czech.
The opening you showed with Bxc3 is also often called the Beefeater, not the Old Benoni, I believe. It’s my understanding that the Old Benoni is simply a Modern Benoni where the pawn on e7 doesn’t move at all.
Almost tried it out until I found out it's another vile fianchetto based system. I despise either side of a pawn pusher fianchetto
Pardon? The Black Bishop goes to e7 in the Old Benoni. Not to g7.
That's what makes it an OLD Benoni.
Don't confuse the Czech Benoni (1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 e5 4.Nc3 d6 5.e4 Be7) with the Old Benoni (1.d4 c5). In the Old Benoni, the Bishop can wind up in either location.
If your mindset is to play an objectively good defense you just shouldn't be playing the Modern Benoni at all. Some little marginal theoretical improvement with an early Nc3 that not even the engine can substantiate would never justify reaching the Modern Benoni via the nimzo setup or something like this - the Nc3 line is not so much more critical than the Modern Benoni already is where it would warrant learning an entire repertoire worth of sidelines to avoid - you just would not play the Benoni if this is your concern.
But tbh if you're to the point of playing a Benoni you should just play the modern. You're getting a fiancetto in either case, but the Modern is just better than the Benoni.
i recently got a book " the czech benoni in action" which is a contemporary attempt at vindicating the opening and includes a section on the old benoni move order but im not sure how fully convinced i am by this book . To give you some perspective how difficult is to assess these positions, if a line can keep an eval of +1 or below for long enough i consider it a success. But some ways of playing this defense can easily net you a jump from 1 to 1.5+ and not even know what you did wrong. There is some ultra concrete reason why the move you did was wrong and at my level its a coin flip if my opponent can capitalize on it or if the eval will return to the 0.8-1.1 range after a normal move.
Do i think some ultra prepared player who bothers to figure most of the tabiyas in these labyrinth positions can be a closed/czech benoni master and play it reliably at any level. MAYBE, but you will sooner do so with an alekhine defense or an owen defense or even a chigorin defense than you would in these lines where i often cannot figure out what went wrong to warrant an eval jump in some super subtle move order change.
Instead , most likely the defense is like a gamble. You know how the KID has a reputation for being played when black is willing to risk more to try to win at the higher levels?these benoni's are like a radical gambit, black is willing to give far more of their eval bar to get into these cramped maneuvering positions you feel you can outplay your opponent in. You likely woudnt play this stuff if your opponent knew you were playing this the next game and memorized engine lines till move 20. Trying to make this defense bulletproof at my level or above is not worth it for 99% of masters and forget it at the below 2000 level, although they prob dont need it to be bulletproof anyways
This is pretty much like my experience playing the opening. If your opponent isn't knowledgeable - fantastic. And most people aren't. But boy does it hurt when you meet someone who is, such as playing a NM who used to have the Czech in their repertoire, that also knows you play the Czech...
I have the Hoffman book - loved it. But the problem lies in the defense itself, so I made the switch to the modern benoni. At least, if I don't know what's happening, I can just make it a mutual feeling.
If your mindset is to play an objectively good defense you just shouldn't be playing the Modern Benoni at all. Some little marginal theoretical improvement with an early Nc3 that not even the engine can substantiate would never justify reaching the Modern Benoni via the nimzo setup or something like this - the Nc3 line is not so much more critical than the Modern Benoni already is where it would warrant learning an entire repertoire worth of sidelines to avoid - you just would not play the Benoni if this is your concern.
But tbh if you're to the point of playing a Benoni you should just play the modern. You're getting a fiancetto in either case, but the Modern is just better than the Benoni.
I think you mean nc6? If white plays nc3 I think black should go for a nimzo Indian instead of the modern Benoni. I’m just starting out with it but that is one thing I think I heard upon initially learning the basics.
Am I just stupid or is the Old Benoni Defense a solid way to surprise your opponent? For those who don't know what it is, here is the line.
I know that if White plays 2.d5, it gives White a spatial advantage, but if white opts to take on c5, or play e4, Black has a solid chance.
Alternatively,
I might just be mentally incompetent, but this isn't too bad for Black.
Please share your thoughts.