Benko Gambit

Infobox chess opening
openingname = Benko Gambit

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moves=1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 b5
ECO=A57-A59
birth=
nameorigin = Pal Benko
parentopening = Benoni Defense
AKA= Volga Gambit, Volga-Benko Gambit
chessgid=95192&move=4&moves=d4.Nf6.c4.c5.d5.b5&nodes=10703.11482.11470.95190.95191.95192

The Benko Gambit is a chess opening characterised by the move 3...b5 in the Benoni Defense arising after:1. :2. :3.

Origin and predecessors

The idea to sacrifice a pawn with ...b5 and ...a6 is quite old. Especially Opocensky applied the idea, amongst others against Stahlberg at Podebrad 1936, against Keres at Parnu 1937 and against Eliskases at Prague 1937. Especially Taimanov-Bronstein, Candidates Zürich 1953, drew attention. Most of these games began as a King's Indian; Black only later played ...c5 and ...b5. Possibly the first pure Volga Gambit was Szabo-Lundin, Interzonal Saltsjobaden 1948.

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) which was Russia, published in the second edition of the magazine "Schachmaty in USSR" of 1946. The term is still widely used in Russian literature.

At the end of the sixties this idea was also promoted by Pal Benko, a Hungarian Grandmaster living in the USA, who provided many new suggestions. 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 (ex. Volga-Benko Gambit). [cite book
last = Benko
first = Pal
title = The Benko Gambit
publisher = B. T. Batsford, London
year = 1974 ] [cite journal
last = Konikowski
first = Jerry
title = A weapon against the Volga Gambit
journal = ChessBase Magazine
issue = 98
month = November | year = 2002
publisher = ChessBase GmbH
accessdate = ]

Theory

The main line continues with the moves 4.cxb5 a6 5.bxa6 Bxa6 followed by Black fianchettoing 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 must solve the problem of developing the f1-bishop. After 4.cxb5 a6 5.bxa6 Bxa6 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 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.

Use

The gambit's most notable practitioner has been its eponym, Pal Benko. Various other prominent players of a combative nature, such as English Grandmaster Michael Adams, American GM John Fedorowicz, and Ukrainian Grandmaster Vassily Ivanchuk, have employed it at some time or another, though few have made it their main defence to 1.d4.

Trivia

The Benko Gambit is featured in Jack McDevitt's short story, "Black to Move," anthologized in Standard Candles.

Encyclopaedia of Chess Openings

The Encyclopaedia of 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

References