Benko Gambit
Encyclopedia
The Benko Gambit is a chess opening
characterised by the move 3...b5 in the Benoni Defense
arising after:
with ...b5 and ...a6 is quite old. Karel Opočenský
applied the idea against, among others, Gideon Ståhlberg
at Poděbrady
1936, Paul Keres
at Pärnu
1937, and Erich Eliskases
at Prague
1937. Later Mark Taimanov
–David Bronstein
, Candidates Tournament
, Zürich
1953, drew attention. Most of these games began as a King's Indian
, with Black only later playing ...c5 and ...b5. Possibly the first to use the now-standard move order 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 b5 was Thorvaldsson–Vaitonis, Munich Olympiad 1936.
The original name of the opening was the Volga Gambit, named after the Volga River
because of an article about 3...b5!? by B. Argunow written in Kuibyshev (Samara
since 1991), Russia
, that was published in the second issue of 1946 of the magazine Schachmaty in USSR. The term is still widely used in Russian literature.
Beginning in the late 1960s, this opening idea was also promoted by Pal Benko
, a Hungarian
-American Grandmaster, who provided many new suggestions and published his book The Benko Gambit in 1974. The name Benko Gambit stuck and is particularly used in English-speaking countries.
Though "Volga Gambit" originally referred solely to the move 3...b5 (sometimes followed by an early ...e6), while Benko himself analyzed in his Batsford treatise solely what is now the main line, 3...b5 4.cxb5 a6, both the terms Benko Gambit and Volga Gambit are now used interchangeably or concurrently (for example, Volga–Benko Gambit).
ing the f8-bishop. (Black players leery of the double-fianchetto system, where White plays g3 and b3, and fianchettos both bishops, have preferred 5...g6 intending 6.b3 Bg7 7.Bb2 Nxa6! The point is that it is awkward for White to meet the threat of ...Nb4, hitting d5 and a2, when Nc3 may often be met by ...Nfxd5 because of the latent pin down the long diagonal.) Black's compensation for the pawn takes several forms. Firstly, White (who is already behind in development) must solve the problem of developing the f1-bishop. After 6. Nc3 d6, if White plays 7.e4, then Black will play 7...Bxf1, and after recapturing with the king, White will have to spend time castling artificially
with g3 and Kg2, as in the line 7....Bxf1 8.Kxf1 g6 9.g3 Bg7 10.Kg2. If White avoids this by fianchettoing the bishop, it will be in a rather passive position, being blocked by White's own pawn on d5.
Apart from this, Black also obtains fast development and good control of the a1–h8 diagonal and can exert pressure down the half-open a- and b-files. These are benefits which can last well into the endgame and so, unusually for a gambit
, Black does not generally mind if queens are exchanged; indeed, such an exchange can often usefully remove the sting from a kingside attack by White.
Although the main line of the Benko is considered acceptable for White, there are various alternatives which avoid some of the problems entailed in the main line. The simplest is to just decline the gambit with 4.Nf3 or 4.a4. Another idea, which is popular at the grandmaster level as of 2004, is to accept the pawn but then immediately give it back with 4.cxb5 a6 5.b6. Another popular alternative is 5.e3.
Garry Kasparov
, Veselin Topalov
and Mikhail Tal
, and Grandmasters Vassily Ivanchuk, Michael Adams, Alexei Shirov
, Boris Gelfand
, and Evgeny Bareev
.
's short story, "Black to Move," anthologized in both Standard Candles
and again in the 2009 collection Breach The Hull, as well as in William Ballard's short story "Retrograde Analysis", published in Analog Science Fiction
has three codes for the Benko Gambit:
Chess opening
A chess opening is the group of initial moves of a chess game. Recognized sequences of opening moves are referred to as openings as initiated by White or defenses, as created in reply by Black. There are many dozens of different openings, and hundreds of named variants. The Oxford Companion to...
characterised by the move 3...b5 in the Benoni Defense
Benoni Defense
The Benoni Defense is a group of chess openings generally characterized by the opening moves 1. d4 c5 2. d5, although Black's ...c5 and White's answer d5 are often delayed. The most usual opening sequence for the Benoni is 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. d5...
arising after:
- 1. d4 Nf6
- 2. c4 c5
- 3. d5 b5
Origin and predecessors
The idea of sacrificing a pawnPawn (chess)
The pawn is the most numerous and weakest piece in the game of chess, historically representing infantry, or more particularly armed peasants or pikemen. Each player begins the game with eight pawns, one on each square of the rank immediately in front of the other pieces...
with ...b5 and ...a6 is quite old. Karel Opočenský
Karel Opocenský
Karel Opočenský was a Czech chess master.-Biography:He was four-time Czech Champion . In 1919, he took 2nd, behind František Schubert, in Prague . In 1925, he tied for 3rd-4th in Paris . In 1927, he won in Česke Budějovice...
applied the idea against, among others, Gideon Ståhlberg
Gideon Ståhlberg
Anders Gideon Tom Ståhlberg was a Swedish chess grandmaster.He won the Swedish Chess Championship of 1927, became Nordic champion in 1929, and held it until 1939....
at Poděbrady
Podebrady
Poděbrady is a historical spa town in the Central Bohemian Region, Czech Republic. It lies on the river Labe 50 km east of Prague on the D11 highway. A historic milestone in the life of the town was the year 1905, when it was visited by the German estate owner Prince von Bülow...
1936, Paul Keres
Paul Keres
Paul Keres , was an Estonian chess grandmaster, and a renowned chess writer. He was among the world's top players from the mid-1930s to the mid-1960s....
at Pärnu
Pärnu
Pärnu is a city in southwestern Estonia on the coast of Pärnu Bay, an inlet of the Gulf of Riga in the Baltic Sea. It is a popular summer vacation resort with many hotels, restaurants, and large beaches. The Pärnu River flows through the city and drains into the Gulf of Riga...
1937, and Erich Eliskases
Erich Eliskases
Erich Gottlieb Eliskases was a chess Grandmaster of the 1930s and 1940s, who represented Austria, Germany and Argentina in international competition....
at Prague
Prague
Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...
1937. Later Mark Taimanov
Mark Taimanov
Mark Evgenievich Taimanov is a leading Soviet and Russian chess player and concert pianist.-Chess:He was awarded the International Grandmaster title in 1952 and played in the Candidates Tournament in Zurich in 1953, where he tied for eighth place. From 1946 to 1956, he was among the world's top...
–David Bronstein
David Bronstein
David Ionovich Bronstein was a Soviet chess grandmaster, who narrowly missed becoming World Chess Champion in 1951. Bronstein was described by his peers as a creative genius and master of tactics...
, Candidates Tournament
Candidates Tournament
The Candidates Tournament is a chess tournament organized by the world chess federation FIDE since 1950, as the final contest to determine the challenger for the World Chess Championship...
, Zürich
Zürich
Zurich is the largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is located in central Switzerland at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich...
1953, drew attention. Most of these games began as a King's Indian
King's Indian Defence
The King's Indian Defence is a common chess opening. It arises after the moves:Black intends to follow up with 3...Bg7 and 4...d6.The Grünfeld Defence arises when Black plays 3...d5 instead, and is considered a separate opening...
, with Black only later playing ...c5 and ...b5. Possibly the first to use the now-standard move order 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 b5 was Thorvaldsson–Vaitonis, Munich Olympiad 1936.
The original name of the opening was the Volga Gambit, named after the Volga River
Volga River
The Volga is the largest river in Europe in terms of length, discharge, and watershed. It flows through central Russia, and is widely viewed as the national river of Russia. Out of the twenty largest cities of Russia, eleven, including the capital Moscow, are situated in the Volga's drainage...
because of an article about 3...b5!? by B. Argunow written in Kuibyshev (Samara
Samara, Russia
Samara , is the sixth largest city in Russia. It is situated in the southeastern part of European Russia at the confluence of the Volga and Samara Rivers. Samara is the administrative center of Samara Oblast. Population: . The metropolitan area of Samara-Tolyatti-Syzran within Samara Oblast...
since 1991), Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
, that was published in the second issue of 1946 of the magazine Schachmaty in USSR. The term is still widely used in Russian literature.
Beginning in the late 1960s, this opening idea was also promoted by Pal Benko
Pál Benko
Pal Benko is a chess grandmaster, author, and composer of endgame studies and chess problems.- Early life :Benko was born in France but was raised in Hungary. He was Hungarian champion by age 20. He emigrated to the United States in 1958, after defecting following the World Student Team...
, a Hungarian
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
-American Grandmaster, who provided many new suggestions and published his book The Benko Gambit in 1974. The name Benko Gambit stuck and is particularly used in English-speaking countries.
Though "Volga Gambit" originally referred solely to the move 3...b5 (sometimes followed by an early ...e6), while Benko himself analyzed in his Batsford treatise solely what is now the main line, 3...b5 4.cxb5 a6, both the terms Benko Gambit and Volga Gambit are now used interchangeably or concurrently (for example, Volga–Benko Gambit).
Theory
The main line continues with the moves 4. cxb5 a6 5. bxa6 Bxa6 followed by Black fianchettoFianchetto
In chess the fianchetto is a pattern of development wherein a bishop is developed to the second rank of the adjacent knight file, the knight pawn having been moved one or two squares forward....
ing the f8-bishop. (Black players leery of the double-fianchetto system, where White plays g3 and b3, and fianchettos both bishops, have preferred 5...g6 intending 6.b3 Bg7 7.Bb2 Nxa6! The point is that it is awkward for White to meet the threat of ...Nb4, hitting d5 and a2, when Nc3 may often be met by ...Nfxd5 because of the latent pin down the long diagonal.) Black's compensation for the pawn takes several forms. Firstly, White (who is already behind in development) must solve the problem of developing the f1-bishop. After 6. Nc3 d6, if White plays 7.e4, then Black will play 7...Bxf1, and after recapturing with the king, White will have to spend time castling artificially
Artificial castling
In chess, artificial castling refers to a maneuver in which a king which has lost the right to castle, achieves a castled position in several normal moves, instead of the one special move.-Examples:...
with g3 and Kg2, as in the line 7....Bxf1 8.Kxf1 g6 9.g3 Bg7 10.Kg2. If White avoids this by fianchettoing the bishop, it will be in a rather passive position, being blocked by White's own pawn on d5.
Apart from this, Black also obtains fast development and good control of the a1–h8 diagonal and can exert pressure down the half-open a- and b-files. These are benefits which can last well into the endgame and so, unusually for a gambit
Gambit
A gambit is a chess opening in which a player, most often White, sacrifices material, usually a pawn, with the hope of achieving a resulting advantageous position. Some well-known examples are the King's Gambit , Queen's Gambit , and Evans Gambit...
, Black does not generally mind if queens are exchanged; indeed, such an exchange can often usefully remove the sting from a kingside attack by White.
Although the main line of the Benko is considered acceptable for White, there are various alternatives which avoid some of the problems entailed in the main line. The simplest is to just decline the gambit with 4.Nf3 or 4.a4. Another idea, which is popular at the grandmaster level as of 2004, is to accept the pawn but then immediately give it back with 4.cxb5 a6 5.b6. Another popular alternative is 5.e3.
Use
The gambit's most notable practitioner has been its eponym, Pal Benko. Many of the world's strongest players have used it at one time or another, including former world championsWorld Chess Championship
The World Chess Championship is played to determine the World Champion in the board game chess. Men and women of any age are eligible to contest this title....
Garry Kasparov
Garry Kasparov
Garry Kimovich Kasparov is a Russian chess grandmaster, a former World Chess Champion, writer, political activist, and one of the greatest chess players of all time....
, Veselin Topalov
Veselin Topalov
Veselin Aleksandrov Topalov is a Bulgarian chess grandmaster. He currently has the sixth highest rating in the world, and was the challenger facing world champion Viswanathan Anand in the World Chess Championship 2010, losing the match 6½–5½....
and Mikhail Tal
Mikhail Tal
Mikhail Tal was a Soviet–Latvian chess player, a Grandmaster, and the eighth World Chess Champion.Widely regarded as a creative genius, and the best attacking player of all time, he played a daring, combinatorial style. His play was known above all for improvisation and unpredictability....
, and Grandmasters Vassily Ivanchuk, Michael Adams, Alexei Shirov
Alexei Shirov
Alexei Dmitrievich Shirov is a Soviet-born Latvian chess grandmaster. He has consistently ranked among the world's top players since the early 1990s, and reached a ranking as high as number four in 1998...
, Boris Gelfand
Boris Gelfand
Boris Abramovich Gelfand is a Belarus-born Israeli chess Grandmaster. He won the 2011 Candidates Tournament and will challenge Viswanathan Anand for the World Chess Championship 2012.-Biography:...
, and Evgeny Bareev
Evgeny Bareev
Evgeny Bareev is a Russian chess Grandmaster and chess coach. In October 2003, he was in fourth place in the world rankings, with an Elo rating of 2739....
.
Trivia
The Benko Gambit is featured in Jack McDevittJack McDevitt
Jack McDevitt is an American science fiction author whose novels frequently deal with attempts to make contact with alien races, and with archaeology or xenoarchaeology....
's short story, "Black to Move," anthologized in both Standard Candles
Standard Candles
Standard Candles is a compilation of short stories by American science fiction author Jack McDevitt. The sixteen stories in the anthology were originally published in various magazines from 1982 to 1996...
and again in the 2009 collection Breach The Hull, as well as in William Ballard's short story "Retrograde Analysis", published in Analog Science Fiction
Encyclopaedia of Chess Openings
The Encyclopaedia of Chess OpeningsEncyclopaedia of Chess Openings
The Encyclopaedia of Chess Openings is a classification system for the opening moves in a game of chess. It is presented as a five volume book collection describing chess openings...
has three codes for the Benko Gambit:
- A57 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 b5
- A58 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 b5 4.cxb5 a6 5.bxa6
- A59 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 b5 4.cxb5 a6 5.bxa6 Bxa6 6.Nc3 d6 7.e4