1.d4 c5 2.d5 Nf6 would seem inferior as it allows the Schmid Benoni with 3.Nc3, which is a Benoni that is supposed to give White a healthy edge. Can that be avoided by Black in this move order?

That's two good answers by kylemeister.

I remember a discussion I had with a Benoni (and Sicilian) player. I argued that because of the d-pawn specials, maybe 1.d4 c5 2.d5 Nf6 was a better move order than 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5.

• Me: "If you are going to play ...c5 on the second move no matter what, then why not play it on the first move? You can always follow up with 2...Nf6."
• Him: "If I am going to play ...Nf6 on the second move no matter what, then why not play it on the first move? ..."
• Me: crickets

Ah yes, I see. Thanks. But, for someone who does play the classical lines against the Maroczy, is there any other reason to prefer 2...c5?

You can reach the delayed Benoni via 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 or, if you don't mind a Maroczy, with a later ...c5 in a KID. Chatalbashev prefers 2...c5: when he does play 2...g6 he usually continues with the Grünfeld. He also plays the Accelerated Dragon, and presumably isn't worried about the Maroczy. So why does he not use the KID move order? If you intend to play ...c5 sooner or later, I would naïvely have thought that it's better to keep it up your sleeve, in the hope that White will adopt a set-up which is less than ideal against the delayed Benoni. Clearly 2...c5 has some advantage that I'm missing. Could someone please explain what it is?

Incidentally Marovic recommended 2...c5 in his old repertoire book, but that's easily explained: he didn't want to get into a Maroczy. In his slightly less old book he switched to the KID, with 6...c5 against the Classical; but he was still trying to avoid the Maroczy, with 7.0-0 Nc6.

kylemeister wrote on 08/12/19 at 21:25:14:


In the sequence 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 c5 3. d5, what should Black's next move be? In popularity order the choices seem 3. .. b5, 3. ..e6 3. .. g6 and 3. d6.

The answer depends in part at least whether you want to play a Benko, although the sequence 3. .. b5 4 Bg5 is more popular than the direct transposition. 

As to why you play an early .. c5, it can be to avoid the attempt to transpose to a Pirc with 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 or just to get players intending 3. Bf4, 3. Bg5 or 3. e3 to declare their intentions.

Well, those articles are from back in the stone age, circa 1986.  (Regarding the Delayed Benoni, one thing that was different then is that after the old-school 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. d5 g6 4. Nc3 d6 5. e4 Bg7 6. Nf3 0-0 7. h3 e6 8. Bd3 ed, only 9. ed was regarded as a major line.)

But (as Stigma said) it isn't a Schmid if c4 is played.

Incidentally I recall the Delayed Benoni (as it is called in the June Nimzo/Benoni update) being paired with the Accelerated Dragon in a series of repertoire articles by the likes of Silman/Donaldson/Watson, once upon a time.

Leningrad Dutch just because I think it is a "sounder" choice than the other two !