ChessPub Forum - What is the best way to meet the Benko/Volga?

kylemeister God Member Offline Insert witty and/or pithy saying here Posts: 2176 USA	Re: What is the best way to meet the Benko/Volga? Reply #15 - 01/28/09 at 15:34:41 The 7. f4 line is advocated in the second edition of the Keene book, from about 1995. The first edition, from about 1984, advocated 4. Nf3.
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cyronix Ex Member I Love ChessPublishing!	Re: What is the best way to meet the Benko/Volga? Reply #16 - 01/28/09 at 17:05:25 According to theory the fianchetto with 10. rb1 is best, but in my opinion the positions are far from clear and there are many practical chances for black. So after 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 I would play 3.Nf3. Why not play a 2nd rate move against a 2nd rate defence and give them their own medicine
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drkodos God Member Offline I see....stars. Posts: 778 Jupiter, and beyond	Re: What is the best way to meet the Benko/Volga? Reply #17 - 01/28/09 at 20:42:36 battleangel wrote on 01/28/09 at 17:05:25: So after 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 I would play 3.Nf3. Why not play a 2nd rate move against a 2nd rate defence and give them their own medicine Because I suspect prospective Benkoers, one need be prepared for the sharp play after 3....cd 4. Nd4 e5 !?.
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MNb God Member Offline Rudolf Spielmann forever Posts: 7593 Moengo Gender:	Re: What is the best way to meet the Benko/Volga? Reply #18 - 01/29/09 at 00:44:54 Which is a 1st rate gambit.
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MartinC Senior Member Offline I Love ChessPublishing! Posts: 293	Re: What is the best way to meet the Benko/Volga? Reply #19 - 01/29/09 at 10:09:23 It no doubt is. Still they are complicated positions with a fair amount of analysis. So if white really prepares it then I suspect he might score pretty well - I don't know how many black players really look hard at this as opposed to just 'playing' it.
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Markovich God Member Offline Doh! Can I take that back? Posts: 4376 Columbus, Ohio	Re: What is the best way to meet the Benko/Volga? Reply #20 - 01/29/09 at 14:16:07 Personally I like White's chances in this gambit. But if you answer 2...c5 with 3.Nf3, you have to be prepared not only for this but for a wide range of Symmetrical English ideas. Also if this is your game, you might consider starting out 1.Nf3.
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Novosibirsk

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Re: What is the best way to meet the Benko/Volga?
Reply #21 - 01/29/09 at 15:32:09

According to Starting out Benoni systems it seems the Kings walk variation (named that way in the "Mastering benko/benoni) has some psycological impact on Benko players. I consider use this variation. It also seems to be a respected line for white.

The argument of exchange the light square bishop is that the bishop is quite blocked by the white center pawns. Do white need the bishop ?. Probably for having a safe kings position only.

Also you exchange one piece more which is good when ahead in material. The drawback is of course whites kings position which is worse than in the fianchetto lines.

If I am not wrong I think Karpov has played the Kings Walk variation mostly when faced with the Benko. Maybe after following Avrukhs repertoire I have to play fianchetto line anyhow . Well see.

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LeeRoth

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Re: What is the best way to meet the Benko/Volga?
Reply #22 - 01/29/09 at 16:35:19

If the Benko is ever refuted by a supercomputer of the future, I'd bet on the accepted/king's walk variation (Kxf1, g3, Kg2). It's what I generally play OTB.

When I'm tired, paired down, playing blitz or otherwise don't feel like letting Black play a bunch of automatic moves or dealing with the pressure on the a- and b- files, I'll decline with 4.Nf3.

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TN

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Re: What is the best way to meet the Benko/Volga?
Reply #23 - 02/03/09 at 07:38:59

I wouldn't call it the best way to meet the Benko, but 4.Bg5, as suggested in 'Dangerous Weapons: The Benoni and Benko' looks like a unorthodox yet quite tricky anti-Benko line.

I once had a look at the 5.f3 Dlugy Variation, but never played it as White because I couldn't find any advantage for White in the 5...e6 6.e4 ed5 7.e5 Qe7 8.Qe2 Ng8 9.Nc3 Bb7 10.Nh3 c4 11.Be3 ab5 12.0-0-0 Qb4 variation, with the key idea of the queen sacrifice 13.Rd5 Qc3! 14.bc3 Bd5 15.Nf4 Ba3 16.Kb1 Ne7, which has been assessed as equal by some commentators but is in my (and Pinski's) view somewhat favourable for Black. 13.Nf4 Ne7 14.Qf2 is more common, but Black fully equalises here as well. Based partly on my experience with the variation as Black, I would argue that the 5.f3 e6 variation is even easier to play for Black than White.

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cyronix

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Re: What is the best way to meet the Benko/Volga?
Reply #24 - 02/09/09 at 18:50:46

Novosibirsk wrote on 01/29/09 at 15:32:09:

According to Starting out Benoni systems
The argument of exchange the light square bishop is that the bishop is quite blocked by the white center pawns. Do white need the bishop ?. Probably for having a safe kings position only.

Also you exchange one piece more which is good when ahead in material. The drawback is of course whites kings position which is worse than in the fianchetto lines.

I once analysed a game with a benko player where I played the fianchetto variation, his thought on variation was that his black bishop is in the way of his forces, and he would like it better to get it exchanged against the f1-bishop.

I don't really know the ultimate truth myself, there are pros and cons in exchanging the lightsquared bishop.

Quote:

Because I suspect prospective Benkoers, one need be prepared for the sharp play after 3....cd 4. Nd4 e5 !?.

I think theory says it's bad, but theory probably says the same on the volga, so I do not really know. Tbh. I haven't looked into that gambit.
I play a different move order c4 Nf3, so I do not need to occupy myself with such things (the first tourney I played last year with 1.d4 I played with some knowledge of lines in the John Cox Starting Out: 1d4 book, like QGD, KID, Nimzo, Gruenfeld, Slav, QGA, but on the board I only got sidelines like albin's counter gambit, czech benoni, dutch stonewall, where I basically had to think for myself starting from move 2-5 running into totally prepared opponents, that is why I changed to 1.c4/1.Nf3, there are not so many cheaptricker defences there).

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Zatara Senior Member Offline I Love ChessPublishing! Posts: 340	Re: What is the best way to meet the Benko/Volga? Reply #25 - 02/10/09 at 07:13:40 Hi everyone, What about 4.f3 instead of 5.f3??? Thanks, Zatara
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Paul Cumbers

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Re: What is the best way to meet the Benko/Volga?
Reply #26 - 02/02/10 at 14:58:48

thibdb13 wrote on 01/22/09 at 19:51:41:

Personally I prefered the Dlugy variation but since the last DW (black plays c4), I am not so confident any more...

Hmm, I have Pinski's book on the Benko, and after 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 b5 4.cxb5 a6 5.f3 e6 6.e4, he gives 6...c4 as highly dubious. Do you know if "Dangerous Weapons" offers improvements on Pinski's analysis to overturn this assessment?

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Paul Cumbers

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Re: What is the best way to meet the Benko/Volga?
Reply #27 - 02/03/10 at 19:55:30

TN wrote on 02/03/09 at 07:38:59:

I wouldn't call it the best way to meet the Benko, but 4.Bg5, as suggested in 'Dangerous Weapons: The Benoni and Benko' looks like a unorthodox yet quite tricky anti-Benko line.

I once had a look at the 5.f3 Dlugy Variation, but never played it as White because I couldn't find any advantage for White in the 5...e6 6.e4 ed5 7.e5 Qe7 8.Qe2 Ng8 9.Nc3 Bb7 10.Nh3 c4 11.Be3 ab5 12.0-0-0 Qb4 variation, with the key idea of the queen sacrifice 13.Rd5 Qc3! 14.bc3 Bd5 15.Nf4 Ba3 16.Kb1 Ne7, which has been assessed as equal by some commentators but is in my (and Pinski's) view somewhat favourable for Black. 13.Nf4 Ne7 14.Qf2 is more common, but Black fully equalises here as well. Based partly on my experience with the variation as Black, I would argue that the 5.f3 e6 variation is even easier to play for Black than White.

How about the following line for White:

5.f3 e6 6.e4 exd5 7.e5 Qe7 8.Qe2 Ng8 9.Nc3 Bb7 10.Nh3 c4, and now 11.Nf4 Qc5 12.Nfxd5!?

It's been played a few times, but White didn't follow up correctly, e.g. Nguyen Chi Minh v Tirard (France, 2003) continued 12...Bxd5 13.Be3 Qb4 14.a3 Qa5 15.Bd2 Be6 16.Nd5 Qa4 17.Nb6 Qxb5 18.Nxa8 Qb7 19.Qe4 Nc6 20.Bxc4 Qxa8 with an unclear position, although Black's minor pieces may be preferable to the rook and pawn.

However, White can improve with 17.Nc7+! Kd8 18.b6! (not 18.Nxa8?! axb5 when White's knight might not be able to escape, e.g. 19.Nb6 Qa6 20.Be3 Bb4+! 21.axb4 [or 21.Kf2 Ba5!] 21...Qxa1+ 22.Kf2, unclear) 18...Qc6 19.Qe4 d5 20.exd6 Bxd6 21.Nxa8 Nf6 22.Qxc6 Nxc6 and White has Nc7, leaving him the exchange up for nothing! How about that! Cool

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Paul Cumbers Full Member Offline Posts: 113 Lincoln Gender:	Re: What is the best way to meet the Benko/Volga? Reply #28 - 02/03/10 at 23:55:16 I'm continuing the discussion of this line (with the better 14...Qd8) here: http://www.chesspub.com/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1173578867/10#10
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Antillian God Member Offline Brilliance without dazzle! Posts: 1507 Gender:	Re: What is the best way to meet the Benko/Volga? Reply #29 - 02/06/10 at 23:40:50 Chess Stars will be releasing a book next month apparently. Should be interesting for Benko haters like me. Squeezing the Gambits: the Benko, Budapest, Albin and Bluemenfeld by Kiril Georgiev - a positional repertoire for White
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Poll
Question: Which continuation is the best against the Benko/Volga
Accepted with bxa6 and e4+g3 6 (7.8%) Accepted with bxa6 and e4+h3 5 (6.5%) Accepted with bxa6 and Nf3+Nd2 3 (3.9%) Accepted with bxa6 and f4 2 (2.6%) Accepted with bxa6 and g3 15 (19.5%) Accepted - The Zaitsev (5.Nc3) 4 (5.2%) Accepted - The Dlugy (5.f3) 8 (10.4%) Accepted with 5. b6 21 (27.3%) Other accepted 1 (1.3%) Refused 12 (15.6%) Total votes: 77 « Created by: thibdb13 on: 01/22/09 at 19:49:32 »

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