Can someone explain to me positional play, weaknesses, and potential targest?

And in the game that the OP posted in the position after 6.Be2, Black clearly has the choice of playing 6...e5 or 6...c5.

Yeah, and the usual move is e5 like you said.

Thank you wafflemaster.

With our discussion I believe we are getting at the meat of the questions of dinkir9

I do like my benoni defense...

Hey wafflemaster, ya think you could do a "live" unrated game of online between you and me? I could tell you my ideas and you could explain a better move for me... I think that would let you see my style a lot better.

Hi dinkir9,

some remarks about your moves in that game of yours:

16. .. h5 is imho positionally incorrect. Your opponent has a bishop of the black squares and there is no threat whatsover on the field g4. So why hurry to attack/defend that field instead of g5, which he can use for his bishop and horse? You give him here one tempi without advantage on your side.

17. .. Qb3 gives him two more tempi. One for the moves of your queen, the other one for the move of his knight. A good move for him after all.

18. .. Re7 is in my opinion a very good move for you. You need to get the e-line and start an attack on his king side.

Good luck!

dinkir9 wrote:

transpo wrote:

dinkir9 wrote:

Obviously looking for help is pointless... So I didn't say everything perfectly... so what? I just need to know how to improve further and avoid making serious blunders. Becky definitely said the right thing, I'm pushing my pawns too much. I necessarily try to avoid moving my kingside pawns but my queenside pawns I move freely.I definitely do need to work on my defense yes. It's all about identifying "the weak link" for me, or in other words, finding a target to constrain my opponent.  Heres one position I had a little trouble in:

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After 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Nf3 0-0 6.Be2 you have entered the Classical Variation of the King's Indian Defense. I am reasonably sure you know this. However, after 6...c5 (which is a playable alternative strike in the center) Black will have to be willing to play a Benoni if White chooses to transpose with 7.d5, or a transposition to the Sicilian after 7.0-0 cxd4 8.Nxd4. Very few players play the King's Indian in order to play 6...c5.

Are you one of those few players? Or did your "natural assessment" (no actual working knowledge of the openings or opening repertoire) of the position lead you to select 6...c5 as the most positionaly advantageous for Black?

I do like my benoni defense...

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Ok, if the Benoni pawn structures are what make sense to you then that is what you should play. It will give you an advantage against any opponent that does not understand them as well as you do.

However, if you don't already know it, the Benoni pawn structures are the most difficult to handle in chess. Because of the great difficulty in determining when and where to play the pawn breaks, there is always the danger of being too early or too late with the right pawn break. This fact I am sure you recognize as a core positional consideration.

A book you should have is, "Beating The King's Indian and Benoni Defenses With The 5.Bd3! Variation, by GM Andrew Soltis.

With my next post I will analyze your game in words and variations from a positional

perspective.

The task is simple: try to trade down while avoiding blunders.