Pedersen, Nicolai

Nicolai V. Pedersen play the Benko gambit EVERYMAN CHESS Gloucester Publishers plc www.everymanchess.com First published in 2011 by Gloucester Publishers plc (formerly Everyman Publishers plc), Northburgh House, 10 Northburgh Street, London EC1V OAT Copyright © 2011 Nicolai V. Pedersen The right of Nicolai V. Pedersen to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyrights, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, electrostatic, magnetic tape, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior permission of the publisher. British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. ISBN: 978 1 85744 634 0 Distributed in North America by The Globe Pequot Press, P.O Box 480, 246 Goose Lane, Guilford, CT 06437-0480. 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Contents Bibliography 4 Introduction 5 Benko Accepted 1 The Fianchetto Variation 12 2 The Classical Variation 33 3 The 'Quiet' 5 e3 73 Benko Declined 4 The 5 f3 Variation 85 5 White plays bS-b6 99 6 Other Options for White 114 Anti-Benko 7 The Kasparov Gambit 149 8 The Topalov Variation 1 73 Index of Variations 202 Index of Complete Games 207 Bibliography Books 1 d4 Volume Two, Boris Avrukh (Quality Chess 2010) The Benko Gambit, Pal Benko (Batsford 1974) Dangerous Weapons: Flank Openings, Richard Palliser et al (Everyman Chess 2008) The Gambit Guide to the Benko Gambit, Steffen Pedersen (Gambit 1999) Play the Benko Gambit, Vaidyanathan Ravikumar (Cadogan Chess 1992) Squeezing the Gambits, Kiril Georgiev (Chess Stars 2010) Winning with the Benko, Byron Jacobs (Batsford Chess Library 1995) Websites and periodicals Chess Informants 1-109 New in Chess Yearbooks 1-98 Databases/DVDs MegaBase 2011 The ABC of the Benko Gambit, Andrew Martin (ChessBase DVD) 4 I ntrod uction The Benko Gambit is an aggressive and Gambit has been my own main reply to sound pawn sacrifice which has been 1 d4, and with decent results. The played by such prominent grandmas reader can, for instance, see my wins ters as Garry Kasparov, Veselin Topalov, against grandmasters P.H.Nielsen and Viswanathan Anand, Alexander Khalif V.Petrov, as well as the recent game man, to name but a few. Significantly, against V.Neverov in the Fianchetto Topalov has used it in many games, line. which says something about its Now I can claim that the Benko is soundness. It was the American sound. Unlike other more dubious grandmaster, Pal Benko, who found gambits (I could mention many here), it many new ideas in the 1970s and is based on long-term compensation. played the gambit successfully, after The old maxim that acceptance is the which it increased in popularity. Al critical test is probably especially true though there were others who ven for unsound gambits, however it still tured it earlier, they were not the main has truth in it and Black has to play inspiration for me; whereas a lot of the with some precision. ideas in this book are inspired by Benko and Khalifman in particular. Some typical ideas I have faced the Benko myself many and themes in the Benko times and feel that it is one of the more To justify the sacrifice of a pawn Black dangerous replies to 1 d4, as White has aims to seize the initiative and it is of to be careful not to cede the initiative ten a feature that Black has a slight to Black. I have played around 10 lead in development, which can lead to games with tt::lh3 in the Fianchetto material gain or some weaknesses for Variation, and maybe 20 games (if one White. In some cases further sacrifices includes rapid games) with the fash are called for, of which there are many ionable 10 l:[bl. My experiences also examples in this book. Indeed, the include the Benko Declined with 5 b6. Benko Gambit is a good way for Black Over the last few years the Benko to get the chance to win - and to win in 5 Play the Benko Gambit style. Furthermore, endgames can •.• C5-C4 sometimes be quite good for Black, too, Although this is a committal move, it if there is still an initiative on the can be lethal if it supports a knight on queen side for instance. d3 after... ltJg4 -e5 or ...ltJd7 -C5 (or ... ltJd7- e5). The obvious drawback is that it Themes for Black weakens the d4-square; in particular ltJf3-d4-c6 is usually not a manoeuvre to ...e7-e6 allow. So after ltJf3-d2 or ltJh 3, for in The move ...e7-e6 is a common theme, stance, ...c5- c4 is more likely to be suc trying to break up the white centre. It is cessful. As examples I could mention usually more effective if White has Burmakin-5.Kasparov (Game 1), Aseev played committal moves such as f2- Ponomariov (Game 7) and Mancini f3,e2- e3 or f2-f4. Pal Benko often Degraeve (Game 18), and it is often seen played ...e7-e6 after some preparation in the analysis too. So ... c5-c4 is a theme in the middlegame, with both the idea which can be effective under the right of attacking the centre and sometimes circumstances. It can also be a way to of a later ...d6-d5 starting a rolling cen open filesafter a white b2-b3. However, tre of his own. So it is a theme even Black should be careful that White can when White hasn't created substantial not simply answer ...c5- c4 by b3-b4, fol weaknesses. There are many instances lowed by a2-a4, with two strong con of this in the book. It should be noted nected pawns on the queen side. that thanks to the missing white c4- pawn the breaks ... e7-e6, as well as .. .f7- An example is Aseev-Ponomariov f5, are more likely to be effective. (Game 7): One example, from Comas-Topalov (Game 13): Here the white knight on h3 can't reach c6 sufficiently quicKly and there is no b3-b4. 6 Introduction ... tt:Jd7-e5 (or ...tt:Jg4-e5), seen many times in the games and ••• tt:Jd7-C5-d3, or •••tt:Je8-c7-b5-d4 analysis as leading to at least equality In some case"S the knight on f6 is hin for Black, it should be considered very dering the dark-squared bishop and carefully, with the possible gain might seek another post via d7 or g4, weighed against the weaknesses it while the thematic ... ttJe8-c7-bS(-d4) is leaves around the black king. also sometimes effective. Some of the key squares which can be good for the From Neverov-Pedersen (Game 3): knight are eS and (especially) d4, c4 and d3 . .. :iVa5, ••. 'iVb6, •..'iVC7, or .•• 'iVa7 The move ...1Wa s is especially thematic, followed by . ..l::tfb8. Sometimes the queen might go to b6 where it is sup porting the d6-pawn after the ... e7-e6 break, while in some cases f2 might be weak. The squares c7 and a7 are usu ally less ideal, but in the Benko De clined (with bS-b6) the queen often The a2-pawn is won and there is ends up here because of ttJd2-C4. further pressure on the light squares: Obviously the various pawn moves ...i.b 3 as well as ...ttJb 6-a4 (or ...ttJx dS) and knight and queen manoeuvres are possibilities. should be combined appropriately and require some timing and precision. ••.f7 -f5 The .. .f7-fS break can be quite risky, ••• .i.xc3 weakening the black king and the e6- This move does indeed seem very square in particular. So in the middle committal, giving up the good bishop game circumstances often have to be on g7. In some cases, however, it en favourable for Black to play .. .f7-fS. In ables Black to regain the white a-pawn the endgame, on the other hand, it is (usually on a2) with further threats. very thematic and is seen quite often, Some examples are seen in the games especially when Black is pressing for a and notes to Neverov-Pedersen (Game win. Then the ds-pawn can be weak as 3), Cossin-Vachier (Game 8), Lugovoi it already lacks the support of a pawn Khalifman (Game 9), and Piket-Topalov on c4. (Game 10). Essentially, ...i.xc3 is a very An example is Cossin-Vachier concrete move and, while it can be (Game 8): 7 Play the Benko Gambit A classical formation or Themes for White a more rapid approach The thematic and slightly slow set-up The blockade: a2-a4, b2-b3 with ...liJb d7, .. .'iWas, ...0-0 and ... .l:.fb8, and/or a piece on bS possibly followed by ... liJc7-bs, is often In the Benko Accepted one of the cen a good plan. However, I recommend tral themes is a white blockade on the that Black keeps a good degree of flexi queenside.

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