GAMES | id John Watson Thorough coverage and insider knowledge of a controversial opening systemThe GAMBIT Guide to the Modern Benoni John Watson AMBITFirst published in the UK by Gambit Publications Ltd 2001 Copyright © John Watson 2001 The right of John Watson to be identified as the author of this work has been as- serted in accordance with the Copyrights, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, re-sold, hired out or otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent pur- chaser. A copy of the British Library Cataloguing in Publication data is available from the British Library. ISBN 1 901983 23 4 DISTRIBUTION: Worldwide (except USA): Central Books Ltd, 99 Wallis Rd, London E9 SLN. Tel +44 (0)20 8986 4854 Fax +44 (0)20 8533 5821. E-mail: orders@Centralbooks.com USA: BHB International, Inc., 41 Monroe Turnpike, Trumbull, CT 06611, USA. For all other enquiries (including a full list of all Gambit Chess titles) please contact the publishers, Gambit Publications Ltd, 69 Masbro Rd, Kensington, London W14 OLS. Fax +44 (0)20 7371 1477. E-mail Murray @gambitchess.freeserve.co.uk Or visit the GAMBIT web site at http://www.gambitbooks.com Edited by Graham Burgess Typeset by Petra Nunn Printed in Great Britain by The Bath Press, Bath, Somerset 10987654321 Gambit Publications Ltd Managing Director: GM Murray Chandler Chess Director: GM John Nunn Editorial Director: FM Graham Burgess German Editor: WFM Petra NunnContents Symbols Acknowledgements Foreword Bibliography Introduction and Early Moves Systems with &f4 Systems with &g5 The Knight’s Tour Variation Pawn-Storm Systems Fianchetto Systems with g3 Systems with 2d3 and Age2 Kapengut’s 7 f3 System Modern Main Line Classical Main Line SCOMAAIADNAHWN— — Index of VariationsSymbols ++ t i= QL rte ume + swiss: Q = check double check checkmate brilliant move good move interesting move dubious move bad move blunder White is winning White is much better White is slightly better equal position unclear position Black is slightly better Black is much better Black is winning championship team championship tt Wch Weht ECC ct OL jr wom mem corr. 1-0 Ya-Mp 0-1 (n) (D) team tournament world championship European championship World Team Championship European Clubs Cup candidates event interzonal event zonal event olympiad junior event women’s event memorial event rapidplay game correspondence game the game ends in a win for White the game ends in a draw the game ends in a win for Black nth match game see next diagram Acknowledgements I would like to thank those who have helped me with this book, including Nick de Firmian, Mark Quinn, Ken Case and John Donaldson. I am particularly grateful to Graham Burgess for his numerous analytical corrections and suggestions.Foreword The project before you, like so many investigations in the chess world, has proven full of surprises. As often happens with authors, I have been struck by how theory, incredibly deep in some lines, is superficial or just wrong in many ar- eas. We tend to assume that everything is more or less worked out in established openings, but that is perhaps a confusion between the great mass of games, which often don’t signify much, and the best moves. It turns out that much of the Modern Benoni is still unexplored territory. This is a repertoire book for Black, which means that instead of trying to cover the opening as a whole, Black is provided a set of suggested lines. The drawback to such a book is its lack of comprehensiveness; its advantages are in attention to detail and in the discipline it imposes upon the author. That is, the author is re- sponsible for specific lines of play, and to the extent that it is practical, should not ignore any reasonable move by White, whether or not it has been played or dis- cussed. My method has been to offer the reader a first, second and occasionally third system against the most critical and popular variations. Thus if one line fails due to a theoretical development, or if it doesn’t appeal to you, there’s another option or two to look into. The majority of older or lesser variations are dealt with in the same fashion, although there are some exceptions. In most cases, the first sug- gested repertoire system is a more established strategy, whereas the second rep- ertoire system tends (with very important exceptions) to be somewhat lesser known, less theoretical, and in many cases, more fun. I have also analysed or simply mentioned further options for Black in the notes to these proposed sys- tems. : Given the limitations of space, my preference has been to forego chapter intro- ductions that include diagrams of characteristic positions and schemes. I feel that prose explanations in opening books should be linked to the examples and analy- sis, and have therefore incorporated most of my general rules, tips, and advice within the analysis and not in isolation. Regarding the structure of the presenta- tion, one will note that the majority of lines end rather pleasantly for Black, re- flecting my own advocacy. But that is an aesthetic choice of layout and by no means indicative of a final assessment. From the analysis, it should be very clear at which points both sides could have pursued their most promising strategies. Thus the notes are vitally important, and I will always try to draw the reader’s6 THE GAMBIT GUIDE TO THE MODERN BENONI attention to the critical junctures. In that context, if I think that a particular unplayed or underestimated line is White’s best chance, I will devote extra anal- ysis to that option, which accounts for some notes being more complex than the main line itself. In no case will I recommend a system that, played correctly, gives White a large, unambiguous advantage, however appealing that system may be for Black in practical play. Sometimes I give a brief analysis to indicate why I have not used the theoretically preferred line for Black. Finally, for better readability, I have mostly reserved the use of diagrams for intelligibility (e.g., before complicated branches), rather than for novelties or stunning moves. Inevitably, I used computer engines (mostly Fritz 6, Nimzo 7.32, and Hiarcs 7.32) to catch blunders (numerous in my case!), monitor positions, and suggest moves, roles which they fulfilled admirably. From previous experience, I knew that when a truly subtle move or one requiring a long-term view was required, the engines were seldom up to the task, even when given overnight to look, and/or when they were allowed to look for a second- or third-best move. So I spent a great deal of time with a physical board, pen, and notebook in hand, especially when writing a chapter for the first time. My most original ideas of significance, such as they are, arose from that environment. One must be careful to ignore many of those ‘+’s and ‘¥’s that the engines generate, not a few of which will be overturned in short order if you just trust your judgement and play some moves for the purportedly inferior side. On the other hand, by allowing these inhuman assistants to help, I have certainly been able to include more original analysis in this book than in any other I have written. As always, if a note has no attribution, it comes from me, except for rare cases of a few painfully obvious moves. I have also not been at all shy about citing game fragments by weak or unknown players if they involve a continuation the reader may reasonably want to know about. It is perfectly simple to interrupt the example with a suggested improvement, just as with higher-level games. Limiting oneself to the latter is not only snobbish but also a guarantee of decreased quality. My attitude is biased towards Black, however objective I strive to be; and as time goes on, readers and theoreticians will doubtless find that some of my as- sessments are too optimistic for Black (as well as for White, but probably in fewer cases). I have not ‘hidden’ any adverse assessments, and have reluctantly weeded out attractive options that didn’t pan out. Even when I have some reser- vations about a suggested line on the basis of general impression, I have tried to go by the verdict of my analysis rather than my intuition. Nevertheless, I would be surprised if every one of my more ambitious and experimental second lines survives scrutiny in the long run. I do believe that most of them will. What is the theoretical status of the Benoni? Without question, the two sys- tems that most threaten the viability of this opening are to be found in Chapter 9 (the ‘Modern Main Line’) and in Line A3 of Chapter 5 (the ‘Taimanov Attack’).