The Benoni Defense is a

chess opening A chess opening or simply an opening is the initial stage of a chess game. It usually consists of established theory; the other phases are the middlegame and the endgame. Many opening sequences have standard names such as the "Sicilian Defen ...

characterized by an early reply of ...c5 against White's opening move 1.d4. Most commonly, it is reached by the sequence: :1. d4 Nf6 :2. c4 c5 :3. d5 Black can then

sacrifice Sacrifice is the offering of material possessions or the lives of animals or humans to a deity as an act of propitiation or worship. Evidence of ritual animal sacrifice has been seen at least since ancient Hebrews and Greeks, and possibly exis ...

a pawn with 3...b5 (the

Benko Gambit The Benko Gambit (or Volga Gambit) is a chess opening characterised by the move 3...b5 in the Benoni Defence arising after: :1. d4 Nf6 :2. c4 c5 :3. d5 b5 Black sacrifices a pawn for enduring pressure. White can accept or decline the gambi ...

), otherwise 3...e6 is the most common move. (3...d6 or 3...g6 are also seen, typically transposing to main lines.) The Old Benoni Defense is characterized by :1. d4 c5 This will usually transpose into a main line after 2.d5, but Black has other options such as an early ...f5.

Etymology

'' Benoni'' (or "Ben-Oni") is an ancient Hebrew name, still occasionally used, meaning "son of my sorrow". It is a reference to the Biblical account of the dying

Rachel Rachel () was a Biblical figure, the favorite of Jacob's two wives, and the mother of Joseph and Benjamin, two of the twelve progenitors of the tribes of Israel. Rachel's father was Laban. Her older sister was Leah, Jacob's first wife. Her aun ...

giving birth to

Benjamin Benjamin ( he, ''Bīnyāmīn''; "Son of (the) right") blue letter bible: https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/h3225/kjv/wlc/0-1/ H3225 - yāmîn - Strong's Hebrew Lexicon (kjv) was the last of the two sons of Jacob and Rachel (Jacob's thi ...

, whom she named Ben-Oni
Genesis 35:18
In 1825 Aaron Reinganum, a prominent member of the Frankfurt Jewish community, published a book entitled ''Ben-Oni oder die Vertheidigungen gegen die Gambitzüge im Schache'' in which he analyzed several defences to the King's Gambit and the Queen's Gambit, as well as the then unknown opening 1.d4 c5. Reinganum, who studied chess to alleviate his depression, conceived the name "Ben-Oni" as a nickname for his writings rather than the name of an opening. In the 1843 Staunton– Saint Amant match, Saint Amant met 1.d4 with 1...c5 in the second and fourth games. Saint Amant wrote in ''Le Palamède'' (1843): "This opening is not favorable to Black. Bennoni icgives some examples; but it loses time to White, which deprives Black of all the advantages of a good opening." Staunton wrote in ''The Chess-Player's Companion'' (1849): "M. St. Amant derived this somewhat bizarre defence from Benoni. (Benoni, oder Vertheidigungen die Gambitzüge im Schache, &c. Von Aaron Reinganum, Frankfort, 1825.)" Staunton also mentions "Ben-Oni" while commenting on the move 1...c5 in ''The Chess-player's Handbook'' (1847, page 382). Subsequently, the name "Benoni" came to be associated with the opening 1.d4 c5, and later with 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 and other openings in which Black counters d2–d4 with an early ....c7–c5, without first having played ...d7–d5.

Old Benoni: 1.d4 c5

The Old Benoni starts with 1.d4 c5. White usually replies 2.d5 in order to gain , as 2.dxc5 e6 leads to no advantage, and 2.e4 transposes to the Morra Gambit, also promising at best. The Old Benoni may transpose to the Czech Benoni, but there are a few independent variations. This form has never attracted serious interest in high-level play, though

Alexander Alekhine Alexander Aleksandrovich Alekhine, ''Aleksándr Aleksándrovich Alékhin''; (March 24, 1946) was a Russian and French chess player and the fourth World Chess Champion, a title he held for two reigns. By the age of 22, Alekhine was already a ...

defeated

Efim Bogoljubow Efim Bogoljubow ( or ), also known as Ewfim Dimitrijewitsch Bogoljubow, ( (); also Romanized ''Bogoljubov'', ''Bogolyubov''; uk, Юхим Дмитрович Боголюбов, Yukhym Dmytrovych Boholiubov; April 14, 1889 – June 18, 1952) ...

with it in one game of their second match, in 1934. The Old Benoni is sometimes called the Blackburne Defense after Englishman

Joseph Henry Blackburne Joseph Henry Blackburne (10 December 1841 – 1 September 1924) was a British chess player. Nicknamed "The Black Death", he dominated the British scene during the latter part of the 19th century. Blackburne learned the game at the relatively late ...

, the first player known to have used it successfully.

Czech Benoni: 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 e5

In the Czech Benoni, also known as the Hromadka Benoni, after

Karel Hromádka Karel Hromádka (23 April 1887 in Großweikersdorf, Austria – 16 July 1956) was a Czech chess player, two-time Czech champion, 1913 and 1921 (jointly). Hromádka played in the 1st unofficial Chess Olympiad, Paris 1924, and scored 6.5/ ...

, Black plays 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 e5. The Czech Benoni is more than the Modern Benoni, but also more passive. The middlegames arising from this line are characterized by much maneuvering; in most lines, Black will look to break with ...b7–b5 or ...f7–f5 after due preparation, while White may play Nc3, e4, h3, Bd3, Nf3, and g4, in order to gain space on the and prevent ...f5. Grandmaster

Ben Finegold Benjamin Philip Finegold (born September 6, 1969) is an American chess grandmaster and YouTuber/Twitch streamer. He had previously been nicknamed the "strongest International Master in the United States" until receiving his Grandmaster (GM) ti ...

often plays this line; he notably beat Mamedyarov in this variation.

Modern Benoni: 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 e6

The Modern Benoni, 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. d5 e6, is the second most common form of Benoni after the

. Black's intention is to play ...exd5 and create a pawn , whose advance will be supported by a

fianchetto In chess, the fianchetto ( or ; "little flank") is a pattern of wherein a bishop is developed to the second rank of the adjacent b- or g-, the having been moved one or two squares forward. The fianchetto is a staple of many " hypermodern" ...

ed bishop on g7. The combination of these two features differentiates Black's setup from the other Benoni defenses and the

King's Indian Defense The King's Indian Defence is a common chess opening. It is defined by the following moves: :1. d4 Nf6 :2. c4 g6 Black intends to follow up with 3...Bg7 and 4...d6 (the Grünfeld Defence arises when Black plays 3...d5 instead, and is consid ...

, although transpositions between these openings are common. The Modern Benoni is classified under the '' ECO'' codes A60–A79.

Snake Benoni: 4.Nc3 exd5 5.cxd5 Bd6

The Snake Benoni refers to a variant of the Modern Benoni where the bishop is developed to d6 rather than g7. This opening was invented in 1982 by

Rolf Olav Martens Rolf is a male given name and a surname. It originates in the Germanic name ''Hrolf'', itself a contraction of ''Hrodwulf'' ( Rudolf), a conjunction of the stem words ''hrod'' ("renown") + ''wulf'' ("wolf"). The Old Norse cognate is ''Hrólfr''. A ...

, who gave it its name because of the sinuous movement of the bishop—in Martens's original concept, Black follows up with 6...Bc7 and sometimes ...Ba5—and because the Swedish word for "snake", ''orm'', was an

anagram An anagram is a word or phrase formed by rearranging the letters of a different word or phrase, typically using all the original letters exactly once. For example, the word ''anagram'' itself can be rearranged into ''nag a ram'', also the word ...

of his initials.

Normunds Miezis Normunds Miezis (born 11 May 1971) is a Latvian chess Grandmaster (1997). Chess career He won the Latvian Chess Championship in 1991 and 2006. He played for Latvia in the Chess Olympiads of 1998, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2012 and 201 ...

has been a regular exponent of this variation. Aside from Martens's plan, 6...0-0 intending ...Re8, ...Bf8 and a potential redeployment of the bishop to g7, has also been tried. White appears to retain the advantage against both setups.

Benko Gambit 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 b5

Blumenfeld Countergambit 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 e6 4.Nf3 b5

''ECO''

The ''

Encyclopaedia of Chess Openings The ''Encyclopaedia of Chess Openings'' () is a reference work describing the state of opening theory in chess, originally published in five volumes from 1974 to 1979 by the Serbian company Šahovski Informator (Chess Informant). It is curre ...

'' has many codes for the Benoni Defense. Old Benoni Defense: :*A43 1.d4 c5 :*A44 1.d4 c5 2.d5 e5 Benoni Defense: :*A56 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 (includes Czech Benoni) :*A57–A59 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 b5 (

) :*A60 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 e6 :*A61 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 e6 4.Nc3 exd5 5.cxd5 d6 6.Nf3 g6 Fianchetto Variation: :*A62 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 e6 4.Nc3 exd5 5.cxd5 d6 6.Nf3 g6 7.g3 Bg7 8.Bg2 0-0 :*A63 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 e6 4.Nc3 exd5 5.cxd5 d6 6.Nf3 g6 7.g3 Bg7 8.Bg2 0-0 9.0-0 Nbd7 :*A64 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 e6 4.Nc3 exd5 5.cxd5 d6 6.Nf3 g6 7.g3 Bg7 8.Bg2 0-0 9.0-0 Nbd7 10.Nd2 a6 11.a4 Re8 Modern Benoni: :*A65 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 e6 4.Nc3 exd5 5.cxd5 d6 6.e4 :*A66 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 e6 4.Nc3 exd5 5.cxd5 d6 6.e4 g6 7.f4 Taimanov Variation: :*A67 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 e6 4.Nc3 exd5 5.cxd5 d6 6.e4 g6 7.f4 Bg7 8.Bb5+ Four Pawns Attack: :*A68 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 e6 4.Nc3 exd5 5.cxd5 d6 6.e4 g6 7.f4 Bg7 8.Nf3 0-0 :*A69 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 e6 4.Nc3 exd5 5.cxd5 d6 6.e4 g6 7.f4 Bg7 8.Nf3 0-0 9.Be2 Re8 Classical Benoni: :*A70 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 e6 4.Nc3 exd5 5.cxd5 d6 6.e4 g6 7.Nf3 :*A71 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 e6 4.Nc3 exd5 5.cxd5 d6 6.e4 g6 7.Nf3 Bg7 8.Bg5 :*A72 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 e6 4.Nc3 exd5 5.cxd5 d6 6.e4 g6 7.Nf3 Bg7 8.Be2 0-0 :*A73 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 e6 4.Nc3 exd5 5.cxd5 d6 6.e4 g6 7.Nf3 Bg7 8.Be2 0-0 9.0-0 :*A74 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 e6 4.Nc3 exd5 5.cxd5 d6 6.e4 g6 7.Nf3 Bg7 8.Be2 0-0 9.0-0 a6 :*A75 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 e6 4.Nc3 exd5 5.cxd5 d6 6.e4 g6 7.Nf3 Bg7 8.Be2 0-0 9.0-0 a6 10.a4 Bg4 :*A76 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 e6 4.Nc3 exd5 5.cxd5 d6 6.e4 g6 7.Nf3 Bg7 8.Be2 0-0 9.0-0 Re8 :*A77 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 e6 4.Nc3 exd5 5.cxd5 d6 6.e4 g6 7.Nf3 Bg7 8.Be2 0-0 9.0-0 Re8 10.Nd2 :*A78 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 e6 4.Nc3 exd5 5.cxd5 d6 6.e4 g6 7.Nf3 Bg7 8.Be2 0-0 9.0-0 Re8 10.Nd2 Na6 :*A79 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 e6 4.Nc3 exd5 5.cxd5 d6 6.e4 g6 7.Nf3 Bg7 8.Be2 0-0 9.0-0 Re8 10.Nd2 Na6 11.f3

Notes

References

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