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Beating the Benko Gambit
and the Benoni
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| Ok, so this is only an opening idea; you still
have to win the middle game and the ending. But the ability to transpose
openings is a valuable skill to acquire. It allows you as Black to
equalize or as White to retain the initiative and thwart Black's counter
plans. Regarding the Benko Gambit and the Benoni, arguably, they
aren't the best of openings for Black and highly playable as White.
However, why should White allow Black to dictate the opening phase of the
game when a transformation can give him an actual and psychological advantage
that could be the winning margin. |
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| With 1.d4, White is probably prepared to play a
Queen's Gambit, a Nimzo-Indian, a King's Indian or just about anything
other than a Benko Gambit or a Benoni. So if Black steers away from
these defenses, White should at least try to play an opening more to his
taste. |
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| The following is an opening idea I found in club
play against one of our stronger players who was having a field day against
1.d4 with Benko and Benoni tactics. |
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1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.Nf3 Nc6 4.Nc3 g6 5.e4
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| This is not a complicated opening idea, just a refusal
to play Black's choice of openings. Playing White I opened 1.d4.
Black answered 1...Nf6. My second move was 2.c4. His second
was 2...c5, the gambit move. I didn't advance to d5 or accept the
gambit; instead, I played 3.Nf3 which he answered 3...Nc6. I played
4.Nc3 to cover a pawn advance to e4, answered by 4...g6. I next played
5.e4, resulting in a Sicilian Maroczy Bind position or possibly a strong
English variation. |
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| Of course, White who originally wished to play a
Queen's Pawn opening has also been taken out of his opening, but White
looks good in the center. And while Black has plenty of counter play,
the game no longer follows Black's Benko or Benoni game plan. |
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| White should consider the possibility that Black
is only pretending to enter the Benoni or Benko Gambit, in the hope that
White will drop his Queen's Pawn opening in favor of a Sicilian that Black
actually wants to play. On the other hand, Black would be taking
the chance that White is perfectly willing himself to enter into a favorable
variation of the Benoni or Benko which isn't actually that bad for White. |
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| Spy vs. Spy, both White and Black are faced with
complex, interesting, and decisive opening choices. |
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