Um, because the Modern Benoni practically loses by force?  I've absolutely crushed it in FICGS centaur correspondence play.

I have analyzed this exchange sac quite a bit over the years and would have no problems playing it. Certainly once you show the computers the standard plan of lopping off one set of knights, retreated the queen back to e7, then installing the second knight on e5, they change their evaluation quite a bit. It's all in the logistics of making that plan happen, mostly.  

Jobava has played some bangers from this position using the plan of playing ...h5 then dropping a piece on g4 - objectlvely not good in some spots, but in Titled Tuesdays no one is going to defend correctly, and he attacks like a genius.

I'd love to crowdsource a solid solution to the Classical (or Old, whatever you want to call it) Main Line against the Delayed Benoni, that being 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 g6 4.Nc3 Bg7 5.e4 d6 6.Nf3 O-O 7.Be2 e6 8.O-O and then what? 

A)
8...Re8!? 9.h3! is quite annoying, e.g. 9...exd5 10.exd5! Bf5 11.Re1! Ne4 (what else?) 12.Nxe4 Bxe4 13.Bg5! and after the queen moves 14.Nd2! is troublesome. 

B)
8...exd5 9.exd5! and now:

9...Re8 10.h3! is likely to transpose to 8...Re8 above.

9...Bf5 10.Nh4! strikes me as likely to transpose back to A again if White wants, e.g. 10...Bd7 11.h3 Re8 12.Nf3 Bf5 13.Re1, etc.

Perhaps best is just going 9...Bg4 and getting rid of the LSB for good, e.g. 10.h3 (10.Bf4!? might be an objectively better move) 10...Bxf3 11.Bxf3 and now 11...Nbd7 has been played the most by far, but SF suggests the interesting multi-purpose move 11...Ne8!?. Black stops Bg5, may threaten to enter Nimzo-like positions after ...Bxc3, and prepares ...Nc7 or ...f5. Here is a correspondence game with the latter, in which Black continues with the usual plan in these structures, that being ...f5, ...h6, ...g5, etc. Worse the whole time of course (two bishops + space, computers will always hate it), but in correspondence chess this isn't as big of a deal. 

https://lichess.org/18aACVch

https://lichess.org/PKxKGwWm

In contrast I'll point out that Stockfish becomes less and less optimistic about White's chances over time after 10...Rxe3+ 11.fxe3 Nfd7!? GM Bischoff has played this twice about 40 years ago. Unbelievers shouldn't play any Benoni anyway.

FreeRepublic wrote on 10/04/25 at 19:55:19:

Thanks, this is interesting. I own GM Ivanisevic' book and it's this Modern Main Line that scared me off.

In recent years I've tended towards lines that I deem more solid than the MBO or KID. Sometimes it's a concern about a specific line. Sometimes it is a concern about the number of lines that need preparation. However, other openings have their issues too.

MNb: "Black can avoid the Flick Knife with 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 d6 4.Nc3 g6 5.e4 Bg7 6.f4 O-O 7.Nf3 e6."

The idea of delaying ...e6 ...exd has been around a long time. The most recent book that I'm aware is available at Forward Chess:  The Modernized Delayed Benoni by Ivan Ivanisevic, Dec 16, 2019.
https://forwardchess.com/product/the-modernized-delayed-benoni?section=Search

The major objection goes:
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. d5 d6 4. Nc3 g6 5. h3 Bg7 6. Nf3 O-O 7. e4 e6 8. Bd3 ed5 9. ed5!? Re8ch 10. Be3 Bh6 11. O-O!? Be3 12. fe3

I learned today that Black has been doing well lately with the exchange sacrifice 10...Rxe3!?


Using the position search feature at Chess Publishing turns up eight annotated games.

FreeRepublic wrote on 10/03/25 at 19:09:27:

This kind of position reminds me of a game Razuvaev-Tseshkovsky from 1978, which was used in the 1980s book "Test Your Positional Play."
https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1320251

A blitz game by Carlsen as black against GM Le Tuan Minh a few months ago was similar. (Magnus, like Tseshkovsky, played ...Ne8-c7.)

"The fact that there are so many lines capable of causing Black problems, probably says something about the fundamental soundness of the opening."

King's Gambit, anyone?  What a pile of garbage.  Even my suboptimal Cunningham's defense has served me well exclusively for over half a century.   

As for the Benoni, now that just this year I've changed to 1.d4, I will absolutely stick with positively crushing PAWN STORM variation (flick knife LOL).  The Benoni almost loses by force, so it's hardly a surprise that it's entirely discounted  by IM/GM types.