Thoughts on the Benoni Defense?

As a suggestion to build on broader and innovative visions of Benoni alternatives, maybe it would also be relevant to visit "mirror lines" of the Reti opening... Good luck Blitz! 

Mods why is this not in the openings section !?

Mods why is this not in the openings section !?

Hi everyone. 

I recently started to build an opening repertoire based on the Benoni defense together with one of my students (he was tired of the King´s Indian). I used some books as inspiration, as Chinese= School of Chess, where he has a topic about the "Benoni Mystique", which some general ideas on the opening. 

Do you have any particular thoughts on it? Any books recommendation? 

I guess none of the mods have ever heard of the benoni 🤷

What's your student's rating? King's indian to benoni... those are a bit advanced.

Do you honestly think their results would be significantly worse if they played something more standard like a queen's gambit, slav, nimzo, etc?

He is 1700 FIDE. 

Not at all. I believe he would do fine with these defenses you mentioned, and I´m a Slav player, it would be easier to teach.

But we decided to give Benoni a chance and build a repertoire together. 

Ok.

And I know an important part of chess is to enjoy it, so if he wants to play the benoni, then that's fine.

But if you're asking for thoughts, my thought is it's not terrible but I wouldn't recommend it

Theory in the Benoni has changed significantly in the last decade. You will need something more than a book to build a well-rounded opening repertoire for your student. 

If you are looking for an opening repertoire with general ideas that should apply to the 1700 level then you should look to John Watson https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2188215.The_Gambit_Guide_to_the_Modern_Benoni

If you want something more instructive to help him understand the opening rather than build a memory of moves then you will need this one: https://www.amazon.com/Modern-Benoni-Everyman-Andrew-Kinsman/dp/1857442229

After all that if you insist on playing the Benoni and you want something to make a difference in the repertoire then leave the books and catch Mihail Marin chess base: https://www.modern-chess.com/en/chess-databases/database=25

Theory in the Benoni has changed significantly in the last decade. You will need something more than a book to build a well-rounded opening repertoire for your student. 

If you are looking for an opening repertoire with general ideas that should apply to the 1700 level then you should look to John Watson https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2188215.The_Gambit_Guide_to_the_Modern_Benoni

If you want something more instructive to help him understand the opening rather than build a memory of moves then you will need this one: https://www.amazon.com/Modern-Benoni-Everyman-Andrew-Kinsman/dp/1857442229

After all that if you insist on playing the Benoni and you want something to make a difference in the repertoire then leave the books and catch Mihail Marin chess base: https://www.modern-chess.com/en/chess-databases/database=25

Hi Otto, if you prepare the repertoire for Benoni, then publish some part of it in your blog here.  As usual we always wait for your blogs.

Furthermore once I finish publishing repertoire on KID, I am going to cover openings who has KID like structure or which can transpose to KID. And so naturally I will have to cover Benoni also.

But that will take quite some while. Because even though I have written some 20 blogs, I think I will still need 25 more articles just to scratch the surface.

It is natural for your student to sthit from KID to Benoni as both are related.

I have given you the link to book on your personal message. See if it can help you.

Dr Sanjay