stockhausen wrote on 10/07/19 at 16:07:07:

Yes, Black's most theoretically approved transpositions from the KID to the Modern Benoni are in lines like the Sämisch, the Four Pawns' attack, the Seirawan system, The Kramer/Hungarian attack and the h3 lines. These are not exactly sidelines, and h3 lines especially are considered quite critical these days, but it's fair to say the Classical and the Fianchetto are the absolute main lines of the KID.

Actually there's not much to stop Black from playing an early ...c5 against the Fianchetto either, though White doesn't have to answer d4-d5: dxc5 ideas and Symmetrical English transpositions are also on the table. If Black tries to transpose against the Classical, White can go d4-d5 but recapture with the e-pawn instead of the c-pawn (which is also a serious issue in the Makogonov with Nf3 and h3), or stay put with the d-pawn and offer a Maroczy bind.

@RoleyPoley: Theoretically the point of the 2...e6 move order "should" be to play the Nimzo-Indian against 3.Nc3, but a full Modern Benoni repertoire with 2...e6 does have some psychological point at least. I have even played it myself once in a rated game.

My "more than 50%" guess was compared to the 2...c5 move order, yes. I don't know that the transpositions from the King's Indian happen frequently enough to shake that estimate, though it propbably depends how you classify the Sämisch/Kapengut and Four Pawns' lines; they occur more often from the King's Indian move order and some consider them really KID lines for that reason.

Incidentally, two of the world's biggest experts on combining the Modern Benoni with the Nimzo-Indian via 2...e6 are long-time ChessPublishing columnists.

Stigma wrote on 10/06/19 at 20:24:28:


Yes, at the time i was playing the modern benoni against nc3 as well. I also used the 2c5 and 1c5 move orders to reach it. I have thought about playing it again via a 1..e6 move order more recently! I play at a lower level of the chess ladder, so I didnt worry too much about the sharper stuff at white's disposal - most games would end up in classical, with me able to swap off on f3.

Is that 50+% figure compared with just the Nf6 + c5 move order or also taking into account transitions from the KI?

stockhausen wrote on 10/06/19 at 13:39:05:


I would be interested to know the stats of how many benoni games are reached through a Nimzo move order as opposed to other lines.

Keeping the Benoni section in with the Nimzo, because some people use the Nf6 & e6 move order to reach it, doesnt really make sense to me - i used to play the benoni through that move order and i never played the nimzo.

I would imagine that it would be KI players who would benefit the most from having it in their section because the opportunities for transition beyond the second move are more numerous, and often beneficial. 

 

GMTonyKosten wrote on 09/06/19 at 08:43:51:


Instead of this, why not have "1.e4: hypermodern defenses" - that way you can have the Alekhine there along with the Dragon and Pirc/Modern. Then the French, Caro and Scandinavian would have their own specific section, which seems quite logical to me.

kylemeister wrote on 09/07/19 at 16:31:48:


The Averbakh does include c4, so it is a Modern with c4. Are you saying there are other Modern lines with c4 that are 'outside' the Averbakh's scope?

Regardless, the Modern Defense (including the Averbakh) and its close cousins (Hippo, Dzindzi) should all be under the same roof with the Pirc, in my view.

By the way, as far as I know the Averbakh is 1. d4 g6 2. c4 Bg7 3. Nc3 d6 4. e4, so it doesn't include some lines of the Modern with c4.

RoleyPoley wrote on 09/07/19 at 10:18:06:

Forgot about the Scandinavian obviously. Yea though. This could work.