The Benoni is characterised by the moves 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 e6 and is a popular opening weapon amongst club players. On top level it’s a rarer guest but with this DVD Rustam Kasimdzhanov, opening expert and second and coach of Fabiano Caruana, will turn the tables. New ways and approaches in most lines and countless improvements of official theory will show you how to play this opening at any level with success. His preferred move order into the Benoni arises through 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 c5 which complements his already published DVD on the Nimzoindian (1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4). The variations of the original Benoni are reached through move order transposition.
Kasimdzhanov goes into extreme detail, showing that the Benoni is a reliable opening that often leads to truly fascinating positions. Players of all levels will enhance their knowledge of the opening and their general understanding of dynamic positions. Moreover, you’ll be able to practice the lines shown in the Opening Trainer and you can play key positions to improve your understanding of typical structures and patterns of the Benoni.
• Video running time: 5 hours 45 minutes (English)
• With interactive training including video feedback
• Extra: Database with model games
• Further Training chapter with repertoire and play features
The Modern Benoni is a fighting and doubleedged opening, in which Black deliberately takes risks in order to achieve active play. The move order 2...c5 3.d5 e6 4.Nc3 exd5 5.cxd5, which characterises the Modern Benoni, creates for White a dangerous pawn majority in the centre; his simple and effective plan is, after due preparation by f4, the pawn thrust e4-e5. It is however not easy to seize the best moment for this pawn advance. There are systems in which White gets in the move e5 at a very early stage, and there are others in which he holds back his main trump for a long time. But Black has of course got something in return: the pawn majority on the queenside which he can mobilise by means of ...a6 and ...b5, the semiopen e-file where he can exert pressure against the e4-pawn, the Bg7 which can become very strong on the h8-a1 diagonal and the outpost on e5 which is an ideal square for the knight.
In the Benko Gambit, named after the Hungarian-American grandmaster Pal Benko, Black offers his b-pawn as early as on move three. If White accepts the sacrifice with 4.cxb5 a6 5.bxa6 g6 6.Nc3 Bxa6 then Black will for a long time exert unpleasant pressure on the queenside via the semi-open a- and b-files.
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