Openings · A57–A59

Benko Gambit

A pawn for two open files that never close — the one gambit where trading queens does not help the defender.

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 b5played as Black

Play it through on the board below.

Practise the line

You play Black; the other side answers on its own. Nothing here is saved or graded.

1
2
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4
5
6
7
h8
g
f
e
d
c
b
a
Your move 1 of 30/3
  1. 1.d4Nf6
  2. 2.c4c5
  3. 3.d5b5

White is answering…

The idea

After 4.cxb5 a6 5.bxa6 Bxa6 Black has no pawn, no attack on the king and no threats. What Black has is the a-file, the b-file, a bishop on a6 and one on g7, and pressure on White's queenside that survives into the endgame.

That last part is what makes it unusual. Most gambits evaporate when the queens come off; this one is often more comfortable to play a pawn down in a rook ending than in a middlegame.

Common mistakes

Three that come up again and again below master level: named traps and the errors every coach corrects.

Taking the pawn back

After 5…Nxd5
  1. 1.
  2. 2.
  3. 3.
  4. 4.
  5. 5.
The mistake
Grabbing on d5 instead of recapturing on a6, because material is material.
Why it costs
6.e4 hits the knight and White has the centre, the extra pawn is gone and the files the gambit was played for are still shut. Everything Black paid for has been spent buying back the thing that was being paid with.
Instead
5…Bxa6, and let the pawn go for good. A Benko player who is counting material has misunderstood the transaction.

Rooks in the middle

After 10…Re8
  1. 1.
  2. 2.
  3. 3.
  4. 4.
  5. 5.
  6. 6.
  7. 7.
  8. 8.
  9. 9.
  10. 10.
The mistake
Developing the rooks to the centre files out of habit.
Why it costs
The a- and b-files are the compensation. A rook on e8 is a rook not doing the one job the pawn was given up for, and against a solid White setup Black simply runs out of ideas around move twenty.
Instead
…Qb6, …Rfb8 and the rooks doubled on the b-file, with …Nbd7 and …Ne8 behind them. Every Benko plan starts on the queenside and stays there.

Expecting the pawn to be taken

After 5.b6
  1. 1.
  2. 2.
  3. 3.
  4. 4.
  5. 5.
The mistake
Preparing only for 4.cxb5 a6 5.bxa6 and the positions that follow it.
Why it costs
White has several ways to decline. 5.b6 gives the pawn straight back and keeps both files closed, 5.e3 and 5.f3 change the shape entirely, and 4.Nf3 sidesteps the whole thing. None of them is a refutation and all of them are different games.
Instead
Know an answer to 5.b6 in particular — …Qxb6 or …d6 followed by …e6 — because it is the line that takes away exactly what Black came for.

What the engine says

After 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 b5, these are White's six best moves according to Stockfish, with the bar showing White's chance of winning. The whole list sits within 4 percentage points of win chance: none of them is a mistake, and the choice is about the positions you want to play.

  1. cxb5+0.7
  2. Nf3+0.5
  3. Nd2+0.5
  4. a3+0.4
  5. Qc2+0.4
  6. h3+0.3

The engine's main line from cxb5: cxb5 a6 e3 e6 dxe6 fxe6 Nf3 d5.

Stockfish 18, depth 24. Scores are in pawns from White's side. Another engine or depth will move individual numbers a little; the picture does not change. How we check.

Where it fits

The Benko Gambit is a variation of the Benoni Defence, whose page covers the ideas this one takes for granted.

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