Endre Vegh's Starting Out Modern Benoni.  

It has a massive 60-page introduction that covers the strategic ideas and is aimed at stronger club players.  Since you've never played these structures before, would start there and then turn to the theory-heavy,  more up-to-date books.

I've played the Benoni on and off in the past. I have a couple of books and although I can't single one and one only as a sufficient resource, here's what's good/bad about each of them :

- Kinsman, the Modern Benoni, Everyman - it's an old book, but the explanations and typical games are good

- Petrov, Modern Benoni, Quality Chess : reams of variations, most of them computer generated - fairly useless imo

- Guide to the Modern Benoni - Watson (Gambit) : lots of good ideas and devious sidelines, more or less easy to play/remember - more of an ideas book

- Modern Benoni revealed - Palliser (Batsford) : the format makes it an easier read than the rest, with inspirational games mixed with typical ideas : it's a good intro, but the reference part is missing

If I had to pick only one, that would be Kinsman's or Palliser's as they both give a very decent overview of the defence, but as they are old, you may want to supplement them with a more recent text, or some database research

Hi all,

the subject tells the situation. Which single source would you recommend today for someone never having played fianchetto openings.

I prefer books over books over books over other media. But in this case a film or a database would be worth a trial.

Waiting full of interest to read the opinions here.

Jupp