Benoni Defense

The Benoni Defense (or Ben-Oni ) is an opening of the game of chess . It is one of the Closed Games and the Indian Defense ; it is therefore also called Benoni Indian .

Meaning and origin of the name

The name Ben-Oni comes from Hebrew and means son of suffering. The name is taken from the 1st book of Moses. Rahel calls her second son that, shortly before she dies after his difficult birth. Jacob, on the other hand, calls him Ben-Jamin, son of happiness, because he was the last son of his favorite wife.

The name Ben-Oni first appeared in chess literature in 1825. At that time Aaron Reinganum and Johann Daniel Albrecht Hoeck published their book Ben-Oni or the defenses against the Gambit moves in chess, classified according to certain types. With an appendix in which the masterpieces occurring in the work, under corrective amendments, are set up unchanged, along with added reflections. Along with an attempt at a literature on the game of chess. In this work, Aaron Reinganum deals with various defensive moves for Black against the King's Gambit and White's Queen's Gambit , including the move order 1. d2 – d4 c7 – c5 on five pages, now known as the Alt-Benoni Defense. This work is therefore not a monograph on the Benoni Defense. According to his information, Aaron Reinganum only wanted to express with the choice of the title that the book was written in hours of personal melancholy.

Howard Staunton wrote in the commentary on his second match against Pierre Saint-Amant (played in 1843) after moves 1. d4 c5 2. d5 f5 that Saint-Amant had taken over this defense from Benoni. As evidence of his testimony, Staunton named Reinganum's book, apparently mistaking the book title for the name of the author.

In the 1930s, the German master player Walter Loose from Düsseldorf referred to this opening as the Loose Defense, as he used it several times himself. This name did not catch on.

variants

Old Benoni Defense

1. d2 – d4 c7 – c5 2. d4 – d5 ( ECO codes A43 – A44)

	a	b	c	d	e	f	G	H
8th									8th
7th									7th
6th									6th
5									5
4th									4th
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	G	H

Old Benoni Defense

In the old Benoni defense, White does without c2 – c4. This leaves the c4 square free for a minor piece and Bb5 + may be an option.

If White captures the pawn in the second move, Black wins it back after 2.… e7 – e6 or 2.… Qd8 – a5 +. White therefore usually continues with 2. d4 – d5 in order to narrow Black. For this reason, the variant has long been considered very beneficial for white.

Alekhine called the Old Benoni Defense 2. ... e7-e5 3. e2-e4 d6 d7-even after he in the form of a "chess sin" World Chess Championship 1934 against Bogolyubov had applied. Instead of Bogolyubov's 4th f2 – f4, Alekhine only recommended lever f2 – f4 after 4. Nb1 – c3. Black should prepare for this with 4.… a7 – a6 to gain space on the queenside and at the same time deny Nc3 and Bf1 the b5-square.

In contrast to the Czech Benoni, a different knight development than Ng8 – f6 is possible. This allows Black to get his pawn lever f7 – f5 earlier. On 4. f2 – f4 e5xf4 5. Bc1xf4 Black tries to block the backward pawn e4 with Ng8 – e7 – g6.

In the 1950s, the German grandmaster Lothar Schmid introduced the playable structure 2.… d7 – d6 3. e2 – e4 Ng8 – f6 4. Nb1 – c3 g7 – g6, which he named Schmid-Benoni in his honor . The position after another 5. Bf1 – e2 Bf8 – g7 6. Ng1 – f3 Nb8 – a6 7. 0–0 Sa6 – c7 8. a2 – a4 a7 – a6 9. Nf3 – d2 Bc8 – d7 10. Nd2 – c4 b7 –B5 surrendered in Botvinnik - Schmid, Chess Olympiad 1960. Botvinnik continued his game with 11. e4 – e5.

A mixture with the Dutch Defense is 2.… f7 – f5. In the English-speaking world this is therefore called Dutch Benoni .

2.… e7 – e6 3. e2 – e4 is called Franco-Benoni , because it mostly arises from the French defense . With another 3.… e6xd5 4. e4xd5 d7 – d6 Black wants to surround the d5 pawn with his pieces. 5. Nb1 – c3 instead of 5. c2 – c4 keeps the diagonal open for bishop f1 and does not rule out the maneuver Nf3 – d2 – c4, but 5.… a7 – a6 threatens b7 – b5. White fends off this gain of space with 6. a2 – a4, but the b5-square is taken from his minor pieces.

Czech benoni

1. d2 – d4 Ng8 – f6 2. c2 – c4 c7 – c5 3. d4 – d5 e7 – e5 ( ECO code A56)

	a	b	c	d	e	f	G	H
8th									8th
7th									7th
6th									6th
5									5
4th									4th
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	G	H

Czech Benoni after 4.Nc3 d6 5. e4

In the Czech Benoni, the game shifts to the wings due to the closed center. Black strives for active counterplay on the kingside as well as the exchange of black-field bishops. To do this, Black moves Bf8 to e7 after 4. Nb1 – c3 d7 – d6 5. e2 – e4. Short castling and Nf6 – e8 prepare Be7 – g5. White has the pawn advances b2 – b4 and f2 – f4. At the end of the 1970s, White had a few victories with a system based on h2 – h3, Bf1 – d3, g2 – g4 and later 0–0–0.

5.… g7 – g6 leads to variants of the King's Indian Defense in which Black also plays c7 – c5 in addition to e7 – e5. If White then makes an attack on the king with g2 – g4 and h2 – h4, Black does not have the c7 – c6 lever against the pawn chain, which would give him counterplay in the c-file.

5.… Nb8 – d7 postpones the line-up of Bf8 by one move. On quiet moves like 6. g2 – g3, Black only gives preference to g7 – g6.

Modern Benoni Defense

1. d2 – d4 Ng8 – f6 2. c2 – c4 c7 – c5 3. d4 – d5 e7 – e6 ( ECO codes A60 – A79)

	a	b	c	d	e	f	G	H
8th									8th
7th									7th
6th									6th
5									5
4th									4th
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	G	H

Modern Benoni after 4. Nc3 exd5 5. cxd5 d6

Because of its asymmetrical character, it also offers Black chances of winning and is particularly valued by players who seek aggressive counterplay early on. The world champions Tal , Fischer and Kasparow used them.

The typical and game-determining element of this opening is characterized by the different distribution of the pawns. White has the pawn majority in the center, while Black has a pawn majority on the queenside. The different basic strategies of both sides are that White has to try to break through in the center. Black, on the other hand, will try to put pressure on the half-open e-file and move his pawn majority on the queenside.

By advancing d4 – d5, White has an advantage of space , but cleared the diagonal for the black-squared fianchetto bishop. White can only control the center square e5 to a limited extent, so that the black queen's knight can settle there in many variants. With the moves a7 – a6 and b7 – b5 Black threatens to develop a strong queenside, White has a strong preventive antidote with a2 – a4.

While White exerts pressure on the center with moves e2 – e4 and possibly f2 – f4 , Black tries to stabilize the e5-square. The Fianchettierung the dark-squared runner helps Black, on the queenside a dynamic counterplay to unfold, which may include after insertion a7-a6 and a2-a4 (possibly with the victim) c5-c4 c5 along with Sd7. An alternative option for Black is to initiate an attack on the king himself using f7 – f5.

Nimzowitsch described Modernes Benoni as "unfortunate extravaganza".

The main variants of the Modern Benoni Defense, which all continue with 4. Nb1 – c3 e6xd5 5. c4xd5 d7 – d6 , include:

• Fianchetto variant 6. Ng1 – f3 g7 – g6 7. g2 – g3
• Nimzowitsch variant 6. Ng1 – f3 g7 – g6 7. Nf3 – d2 with the typical maneuver Nf3 – d2 – c4 to block the c5 pawn and besiege the weakness d6 with additional Bf4.
• Classic variation 6. e2 – e4 g7 – g6 7. Ng1 – f3 Bf8 – g7 8. Bf1 – e2. At the turn of the millennium, 8. h2 – h3 0–0 9. Bf1 – d3 had become popular.
• Three pawn attack 6. e2 – e4 g7 – g6 7. f2 – f4 Bf8 – g7. (This variant in the form with 8. Ng1 – f3 often arises from the move changeover from the four pawn attack in the King's Indian Defense .) White strives for a quick e4 – e5 and can now even move it. After 8. Bf1 – b5 + the retreat Nf6 – d7 is as good as forced.

Others

Variants of the Benoni defense are that

• Geier 1. d2 – d4 Ng8 – f6 2. c2 – c4 c7 – c5 3. d4 – d5 Nf6 – e4 and the
• Habichd 1. d2-d4 Ng8 -f6 2. Ng1-f3 c7-c5 3. d4-d5 c5-c4.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Aaron Reinganum, Johann Daniel Albrecht Hoeck: Ben-Oni or the defenses against the Gambit moves in chess, classified according to certain types. With an appendix in which the masterpieces occurring in the work, under corrective amendments, are set up unchanged, along with added reflections. Along with an attempt at a literature on the game of chess. Hermann, Frankfurt am Main 1825 ( digitized version of the Bavarian State Library).
2. ↑ Aaron Reinganum, Johann Daniel Albrecht Hoeck: Ben-Oni or the defenses against the Gambit moves in chess, classified according to certain types. With an appendix in which the masterpieces occurring in the work, under corrective amendments, are set up unchanged, along with added reflections. Along with an attempt at a literature on the game of chess. Hermann, Frankfurt am Main 1825, pp. 98-102.
3. ↑ Aaron Reinganum, Johann Daniel Albrecht Hoeck: Ben-Oni or the defenses against the Gambit moves in chess, classified according to certain types. With an appendix in which the masterpieces occurring in the work, under corrective amendments, are set up unchanged, along with added reflections. Along with an attempt at a literature on the game of chess. Hermann, Frankfurt am Main 1825, p. III.
   Ernst Strouhal, Michael Ehn: "... to withdraw from melanoma". In: Der Standard from August 1, 2015, p. 25 ( online ).
4. ^ Howard Staunton: The Chess-Player's Companion. Henry G. Bohn, London 1849, p. 318 ( digitized ).
5. ↑ Edward Winter : Benoni Confusion. In: www.chesshistory.com. Chess Notes Archive, June 25, 2006. Retrieved July 8, 2016.

literature

• Efim Stoljar, Pawel Kondratjew : Old Benoni Defense. Schachverlag Schmaus, Heidelberg 1985.
• Jerzy Konikowski , Eckhard Schmittdiel : Modern Benoni - played right. Beyer, Hollfeld 1989, ISBN 3-89168-016-3 .
• John Watson : The Gambit Guide to the Modern Benoni. Gambit Publications, London 2001, ISBN 1-901983-23-4 .
• Andrew Martin : The ABC of the Modern Benoni. ChessBase, Hamburg 2008, ISBN 978-3-86681-082-2 (DVD).
• Ari Ziegler: Modern Benoni for advanced users. ChessBase, Hamburg 2012, ISBN 978-3-86681-272-7 (DVD).
• Marian Petrov : The Modern Benoni. Quality Chess, Glasgow 2013, ISBN 978-1-907982-59-0 .
• Michael Ehn : Ben-Oni or Ben-Jamin? Four portraits on the development history of a defense. In: Karl - The cultural chess magazine , No. 2/2015, pp. 26–33.

Web links

• The modern Benoni defense in the Chess Opening Explorer