Benoni Defence
Let White have the big centre and fight it with pieces: a bishop on g7, a rook on e8 and a queenside pawn majority that rolls with ...a6 and ...b5. Nothing is symmetrical, nothing is dull, and your moves are the same against almost everything White tries.
Spar this openingYour setup
- Bishopg7
- Knightf6
- Knightd7 / a6 / c7
- Rooke8
- Queene7 / c7 / b6
- Pawnsc5 d6 g6
- CastleO-O
d6 before Bg7. ...d6 before the bishop lands on g7. With no pawn on d6, White plays e4–e5, your knight on f6 is kicked and the centre rolls forward while your king is still in the middle.
a6 before b5. ...a6 before ...b5. Once your e-pawn has traded on d5 there is no pawn to guard b5, so an unprepared ...b5 is simply taken by Bxb5 or Nxb5.
Ideas
White gets the centre. You get the g7-bishop, the e-file and three queenside pawns against two.
The Benoni is a deal, not a defence. After ...exd5 cxd5 White owns more of the board, but your structure gives you three fixed targets: the pawn on e4 (rook on e8), the dark squares around d4 (bishop on g7), and the queenside where your pawns outnumber White's. Cramped is fine as long as you know where the play is.
The pawn on d6 stops e4–e5. Play it as soon as the centre is fixed.
After 5.cxd5 White's dream is e4 and e5, kicking your knight and opening lines toward your king before it has castled. One pawn on d6 stops the dream cold. It also locks the chain c5–d6 that everything else leans on.
While a knight sits on c3, ...Nxe4 loses your knight. Attack e4 with the rook, not the knight.
It looks free and it is not. The knight on c3 recaptures and you are a piece down. Pressure e4 the right way: ...Re8 behind it, ...Bg4 to trade off the knight that defends it, and only then consider ...Nxe4 when a second attacker makes it work.
...a6 then ...b5: your three queenside pawns start rolling and White's pieces have to react.
The queenside is where you outnumber White. ...a6 prepares it, ...b5 opens lines for the a8-rook and gains space for the c5-pawn to advance later. When White plays a4 to stop it, your knight uses the hole on b4 instead.
The Four Pawns look scary. Castle, ...Re8, and every pawn White pushed becomes a target.
e4 and f4 together mean White has spent two moves on pawns and none on the king. Get castled, put the rook on e8 and the knight on a6 heading for c7, and watch for the moment e5 fails because e4 is loose. Never grab with the knight while c3 is guarded.
Bb5+ is a nuisance check. ...Nbd7 or ...Nfd7 blocks and the bishop is soon kicked by ...a6.
White checks to gain a tempo and stop your knight going to d7 freely. Block with a knight, not the bishop: you want the c8-bishop free for ...Bg4 later, and after ...a6 White's bishop has to move again anyway.
Rook to e8, knight via a6 to c7 or d7 to b6, pawns ...a6 and ...b5. Pressure e4 and roll the queenside.
Two plans and you pick by what White does. If e4 is on the board, everything points at it: ...Re8, ...Bg4 to remove a defender, ...Qe7. If White fianchettoes and skips e4, go queenside: ...a6, ...Rb8, ...b5. Keep the g7-bishop and never trade it for a knight.
The structure
Traps
The tell: White pushes e4 and your knight on f6 sees a pawn it has been trained to grab in other openings.
The knight on c3 recaptures and you are a knight down for a pawn. The Benoni attacks e4 with the rook from e8 and the bishop from g4, never with the knight while c3 is guarded. Play ...g6 instead.
The tell: White skips cxd5 and pushes e4 while your pawn is still on d5.
Your d5-pawn takes e4, White's knight takes back, and your knight takes the knight. Nothing recaptures: the pawn on e4 had only the c3-knight behind it. If White tries Qe2 to pin the knight against your king, ...Qe7 blocks the file and you stay a piece up.
The tell: You know ...b5 is the plan and you are itching to play it as soon as you have castled.
Once your e-pawn has traded on d5 there is no pawn to defend b5. Bxb5 takes it for nothing and the queenside plan is dead. Play ...a6 first; then ...b5 is supported and the break gains space instead of losing a pawn.
Model games
The whole plan: trade on d5, ...d6 to stop e5, fianchetto, castle, rook to e8 hitting e4, then ...a6 and the knight to d7 heading for b6 and c4.
White skips e4 and fianchettoes. With no centre pawn to target, everything goes queenside: ...a6, ...Nbd7, ...Rb8, and the b4-square left behind by a4.
White pushes four pawns and develops nothing. You castle, put the rook on e8 against e4, and bring the knight round to c7 to support ...b5 while the loose pawns wait to be attacked.
How the coach grades a move
Every move you play gets one of six grades, from the engine’s view of the position, with the book’s verdict taking over when it is harsher. The sentence beside it is always the reason. Tap it for what the move did, why this opening wants it, and whether anything was better.
- Best
- Nothing better was available.
- Good
- Within a few percent of best. Noise at this depth.
- Playable
- A small real gap. The better move is named, play goes on.
- Inaccuracy
- Seven to twelve points of winning chances. The game stops to show you.
- Mistake
- Twelve or more, or a move the book warns against, or a broken order rule.
- Blunder
- Twenty-five or more. Usually material.
Catalogued as A60–A79 in the Encyclopaedia of Chess Openings, the reference index most databases sort by.