Openings · A60–A79

Benoni Defence

2…c5 — invite White to close the centre with d5, and take the queenside and the long diagonal in exchange.

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5played as Black

The idea

After 3.d5 e6 4.Nc3 exd5 5.cxd5 d6 the Modern Benoni is on the board: White has a pawn on d5 and more space, Black has the half-open e-file, a bishop on g7 and a queenside majority that runs with …a6 and …b5.

The backward pawn on d6 is the price, and every serious White system attacks it. This is one of the most double-edged openings a club player can choose, and it does not forgive being played by feel.

Practise the line

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

Your move 1 of 20/2

1.d4Nf6
2.c4c5

White is answering…

Common mistakes

Three that come up again and again below master level. Each is ordinary opening theory — a named trap, or the error every coach corrects — not a statistic, and not drawn from anybody's games.

The wrong knight to d7

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 e6 4.Nc3 exd5 5.cxd5 d6 6.e4 g6 7.f4 Bg7 8.Bb5+ Nbd7

The mistake: Blocking the check on b5 with the queen's knight.
Why it costs: It is the Taimanov Attack, and the check is the point of it. After 8…Nbd7 White plays 9.e5, and the pawn arrives with the knight on f6 unable to leave and d6 falling apart behind it.
Instead: 8…Nfd7, which keeps e5 covered and leaves the queenside free. It is close to an only move, and it has to be known before the position appears.

The majority that never moves

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 e6 4.Nc3 exd5 5.cxd5 d6 6.e4 g6 7.Nf3 Bg7 8.Be2 O-O 9.O-O Re8 10.Nd2 Na6

The mistake: Developing comfortably and leaving …a6 and …b5 for later.
Why it costs: Without the queenside break Black is a player with less space and a backward pawn, which is the whole of the position once the dynamism is removed. White's plans — Nd2–c4 at d6, or f4 and e5 — all arrive on their own.
Instead: …a6 and …Rb8 early, and …b5 even as a sacrifice. The Benoni's compensation has a shelf life.

Meeting the Knight's Tour by feel

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 e6 4.Nc3 exd5 5.cxd5 d6 6.e4 g6 7.Nf3 Bg7 8.Nd2 O-O 9.Nc4

The mistake: Treating Nf3–d2–c4 as slow play, and carrying on with development.
Why it costs: The knight is heading for c4 and then a5 or b6, and everything it touches is aimed at d6 and the queenside squares Black needs for …b5. Two moves of White's manoeuvre are worth more than two of Black's if Black spends them on nothing.
Instead: …Ne8 or …Na6 with …Nc7, defending d6 and preparing …b5 in the same breath — and know which one before the knight reaches c4.

Where it fits

One line out of it has a page of its own: Benko Gambit.

Try it on one of your own

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