Paul Cumbers wrote on 09/29/20 at 23:07:16:


Not to be completely off kilter, but if white really has that many good choices then there is a great chance for the unprepared player to go wrong which is usually the kind of imbalance these slightly worse openings like the Benoni and Dutch are looking for. For example, I am thinking of the Dutch game between Xiong-Nakamura US Championship 2019 0-1 where quite seriously at some point white's only issue was which way of the many ways to make his advantage felt.

Glenn Snow wrote on 09/30/20 at 04:41:40:
Yes it wouldn't surprise me. I also notice Van der Werf tried this 7...b5 stuff recently and lost.

Glenn Snow wrote on 04/14/20 at 16:25:28:

The issue I have with the exchange sac line is that White has a strong alternative in 11.a4!? (not mentioned by Doknjas), side-stepping the complications:

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 c5 4.d5 d6 5.Nc3 exd5 6.cxd5 g6 7.h3 Bg7 8.e4 0–0 9.Bd3 Re8 10.0–0 Nbd7 11.a4!?

(a) If Black continues naturally with 11...Ne5, then 12.Nxe5 Rxe5 13.f4 Re8 14.Qf3 is nice for White. The KR is better placed on f1 rather than e1 (compared to a similar position arising from 11.Re1), as the f-file may open up after a subsequent f4-f5 or e4-e5; and the QR may come to e1 instead.

(b) 11...a6 is the move Black is trying to refrain from. After 12.Bf4 c4 13.Bc2 Nc5 14.Nd2, there's no ...b7-b6 & ...Ba6.

(c) 11...Nh5 is met by (you guessed it ) the anti-Nh5 recipe: 12.Be2!

So best I think is 11...c4 12.Bc2 Nc5 13.Re1 Bd7 when White can decide when to go for e4-e5, e.g. 14.Bf4 (or 14.e5 dxe5 15.Nxe5 +=) 14...Qb6 15.Rb1 Rac8 [Shulman-Ivanov, 1994]. Any of 16.e5/Qd2/Bh2 should give White the advantage. On the plus side, at least Black is fully developed and active. But we've reached a position stemming from 10...c4 - isn't that something Black was trying to avoid (with 10...Nbd7)?

Glenn Snow wrote on 04/18/20 at 23:36:48:

Revisiting this idea, I think there's a way for White to return the pawn advantageously:

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 c5 4.d5 d6 5.Nc3 exd5 6.cxd5 g6 7.h3 b5

Now 8.Nxb5 Bg7 9.Bf4 Qa5+ 10.Nc3 Ne4 11.Nd2! Nxc3 12.bxc3 O-O (12...Qxc3?! 13.Rc1 Qf6 14.e3 followed by Ne4 or Nc4 leaves Black in serious trouble on d6) 13.Rc1 (perhaps Black gets some counterplay after 13.e4 Qxc3 14.Rb1 Qf6 15.Qf3 Nd7 16.Be2 g5!?) 13...Nd7 14.e4 Bxc3 15.Be2 Be5 16.Bxe5 Nxe5 17.f4 Nd7 18.O-O Nb6

Can Black make this position work? It looks difficult to me. The kingside appears shaky, particularly without the dark-squared bishop. White has a wide choice of good moves here (e.g. 19.Kh2, Kh1, e5, f5, Qe1, Qc2, Rf2, Re1, Rf3).

When playing the Benoni, the MML is the variation I'm most concerned about. 9...b5 seems to be the "correct" response, but 10.Bxb5 leads to positions that aren't in the spirit of the opening IMO. So it's a shame that Kasimdzhanov doesn't try to take advantage of White's early Nf3, e.g. see this post by gillbod in another thread:

https://www.chesspub.com/cgi-bin/chess/YaBB.pl?num=1277923037/23#23

White's best move-order is 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 (3.Nc3 Bb4) 3...c5 4.d5 d6 5.Nc3 exd5 6.cxd5 g6 7.h3!? when gillbod suggests 7...a6 8.a4 Qe7!? to prevent e4. The Karjakin-Caruana game (mentioned by LeeRoth) continued 9.Bf4 Nbd7 10.e3 Bg7 11.Be2 0-0 12.0-0, transposing to Bf4 lines where the inclusion of ...a6 might be better for White. [BTW, Stigma - this looks like Caruana's most recent game with the Benoni, i.e. July 2019].

Another possibility for Black is 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 c5 4.d5 d6 5.Nc3 exd5 6.cxd5 g6 7.h3 b5!? as tried by Dubov, Matlakov and Ivanisevic. Any thoughts on this pawn sac?

LeeRoth wrote on 04/14/20 at 14:43:29:

I can see the attractions of a fire-breathing defence, and understand that for practical play it would be nice to find something playable with more winning chances against the MML. 

It's also possible to play 9...b5 and just acknowledge that some forced draws are a part of the bargain while enjoying the sharp, unbalanced games you're still getting a lot of the time. But that philosophy probably involves having a backup defence.

I've tried the Benoni a few times myself, but the results weren't encouraging. The dynamic defences that have stuck for the long haul in my case are the Grünfeld and the Leningrad Dutch. This is probably complete random of course, but that didn't stop me from geting on my high horse and recommending just those defences!

TonyRo wrote on 04/14/20 at 13:44:38:


Yes, that's the variation!  He mentions that game but it's not his main game fwiw.  Certainly a risky idea but if one is really going for a win then it's worth a try.

Glenn Snow wrote on 04/14/20 at 12:05:42:

Presumably you're talking about 9...Re8 10.O-O Nbd7 11.Re1 Ne5 12.Nxe5 Rxe5 13.Bf4 Nh5!? - I first came across this idea in a Levan Pantsulaia game, I'll see if I can dig it up after work. Not an easy exchange sacrifice to refute - not sure I totally believe in it, but Black has a lot of long term compensation in a tricky position. Might have to check out this book!

LeeRoth wrote on 04/13/20 at 17:17:02:

But the Benoni is already a marginal defence; it isn't played much at the top level. So when a (former) man line of it turns out to be dead equal, that is of course a theoretical success for Black.

If it's maximal winning chances you're after, there's always stuff like the King's Indian and the Dutch to play. Or even some of the defences that are considered the absolute best equalizing tries by theory, such as the Semi-Slav, the Queen's Indian or the Grünfeld.

kylemeister wrote on 04/13/20 at 20:20:48:

Incidentally, this was Marin's choice against this sneaky 7.Nd2-into-Classical move order in his Benoni databases for Modern Chess a few years ago (7.Nd2 Bg7 8.e4 0-0 9.Be2 Ne8 10.0-0 f5).