Christer Sundqvist: New Trends in the Benko Gambit
This is a summary of a massive analysis package that includes the Benko Gambit. I'd like to demonstrate a typical line of play in order to pique your interest in this rapidly evolving chess opening.
With a small investment from your side, I can send the entire package (2 PGN files) to your e-mail address. I use this blog to help me cope with the enormous number of draws in correspondence chess. I'm only doing it for fun, not for financial gain. I also provide you with regular updates at no additional cost. I use PayPal, MobilePay, and standard IBAN bank transfers. Please tell me how you want to receive the chess opening package. My email is turpaduunari@outlook.com.
If you believe my request for money is unethical or greedy, I am willing to consider alternative options (exchange of valuable ideas or other forms of cooperation).
I have used these resources:
- Boris Alterman. Alterman Gambit Guide: Black Gambits 1. Quality Chess, 2011
- Boris Avrukh. Grandmaster Repertoire: 1.d4 Volume Two. Quality Chess, 2010
- Batsford's Modern Chess Openings (15th edition) = MCO
- Chess Cloud Database Query Mode (https://www.chessdb.cn/queryc_en/) = CCD
- Chess Informant 150, 153
- Chessbase software
- ICCF Games Archive (https://www.iccf.com/message?message=454 ) 1961–2026
- Opening Master Chess Database (https://www.openingmaster.com/)
- Nicolai V. Pedersen. Play the Benko gambit. Everyman Chess, 2011
- Personal chess database (approx. 90 million games)
- Milos Perunovic. The Modernized Benko Gambit, Thinkers Publishing, 2018
- Dhopade Swapnil. Chessable: Lifetime Repertoires Benko Gambit, 2021
- Stockfish 17 chess engine
- Sundqvist, Christer. The Benko Gambit played by a strong correspondence chess player 1995–2026
- Junior Tay. The Benko Gambit: Move by move. Everyman Chess, 2014
- The Week in Chess (https://theweekinchess.com/twic ) 1994–2026
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 b5
The original name of this opening was the Volga Gambit, named after the Volga River in Russia. At the end of the 1960s this variation was also promoted by Pal Benko, who provided many new suggestions. The name Benko Gambit stuck, and is particularly used in English-speaking countries, The concept behind Black’s third move is to remove the supporting pawn at c4 and open the queenside files (a- and b-files) for pressure on the flank. Black's development is speeded up and he obtains the advantage of one pawn island against two for White – a more compact structure. All these are long-term positional factors, and Black will need them as he gains little direct activity or tactical chances that most gambits bring. Computers and even some grandmasters hold the view that White is a pawn ahead with no immediate problems. That view is simply too complacent, as the pressure Black obtains may last even into the endgame. Black’s success in the gambit-accepted variations has spurred White players to investigate lines declining the gambit, which look to be at least as promising. In the past Fedorowicz, Hodgson, and Vaganian have been the serious practitioners of the opening. There are few grandmasters today that use the Benko with real regularity, but many who use it on occasion.
4.cxb5 White accepts the gambit pawn.
4...a6
After the moves cxb5 and ...a6, tension may occur between the pawns on b5 and a6. This may continue for several moves as neither side wishes to facilitate the opponent's development by capturing prematurely.
4...g6 5.Nc3 Bg7 6.e4 d6 7.Nf3 0–0
Firouzja - Carlsen (in 2021) continued like this.8.Nd2 a6 9.Be2 axb5 10.Bxb5 Ba6 11.Bxa6 Nxa6 12.0–0 Nc7 13.Re1 Nd7 14.a4 Qb8 15.Nc4 Ne5 16.Nxe5 Bxe5 17.Bh6 Qxb2 18.Bxf8 Kxf8 19.Rc1 Bxc3 20.Re2 Qb4 21.Ra2 Be5 22.Qc2 Na6 23.Rb1 Qd4 24.Qe2 Nb4 25.Rd2 Qc3 26.g3 Rxa4 27.Kg2 Kg7 28.Rbd1 Ra3 29.h4 h5 30.Qb5 Bxg3 0–1 (30) Firouzja,A (2749)-Carlsen,M (2862) Lichess.org INT 2021
5.bxa6 Only by accepting the pawn sacrifice can White fight for a real advantage in this opening.
5.b6 (Here White gives the pawn back immediately and aims for a positional struggle ahead. White's aim is to beat Black at his own game by trying to cramp him on the queenside with a4–a5 and Nd2–c4.) 5...e6!? (One idea is to immediately start undermining the centre before White gets a chance to increase the hold with Nb1–c3 and e2–e4. The pawn on b6 is going nowhere and will be won sooner or later. It almost looks as Black is confused. Is he trying to play a Benko or a Blumenfeld? Actually this hybrid works quite well, and is one of the most principled ways of meeting the 5.b6 line.) 6.Nc3 (White defends the pawn.) 6...Nxd5 7.Nxd5 exd5 8.Qxd5 (This exchange leaves White's queen on d5, seemingly a dubious decision as Black's backward d-pawn is suppressed and White obtains a nice space advantage. However, it transpires that Black can in time boot away the queen, either with ...Nb4 or ...Be6 after preparation, and the queen usually moves to safer pastures, such as h5 or d2.) 8...Nc6 (White still needs a few moves to complete his development and establish proper control on d5. Black would like to play Bf8–e7 followed by 0–0 and then taking the pawn on b6.) 9.Nf3! (White not only develops his knight but also threatens Nf3–e5 at the same time, exploiting the pin on the c6–knight.) 9...Rb8! (An idea patented by Boris Alterman. Black gets away from the pin on the c6–knight and prepares to play …Rxb6 at the right moment.) 10.e4! (Intending to develop the bishop actively to c4. Several other moves have been tested, but nowadays this pawn move has emerged as the front runner.) 10...Be7 11.Bc4 0–0 12.0–0 Rxb6 (Both sides have completed their development and the position is around equal. White has control on the important d5 square while Black has pressure on the b-file and a decent control of the d4–square. The control of the d4–square is important for Black in this structure because he would like to establish one of his pieces (mostly the knight) on d4.) 13.Qh5 (In this variation Black has the option of playing with a fixed centre after d6. Black’s idea is to change White’s bishop on c4. Another idea is getting yet better control over d4, starting active play on the f- and b-files, and pushing the a-pawn.) 13...d6 14.b3
White prepares to fianchetto his bishop. 14...Be6! 15.Bxe6 fxe6 16.Bb2 e5 17.Nd2 Rb7 18.f4 Bf6 19.Nc4 g6 20.Qd1 Nd4 21.fxe5 Bxe5 22.Nxe5 dxe5 23.Qd3 Qd6 24.Qc4+ Rbf7 25.Ba3 Qe6 ½–½ (34) Paduano,C (2314)-Stopa,J (2317) Grado ITA 2024;
5.e3 (This continuation is not so popular nowadays, but it is quite logical and used to be one of the main lines. White avoids a situation where his king loses castling rights, preferring to develop his pieces and perhaps advance in the center with e4 later, even at the expense of a tempo. Another possible plan is to block the queenside with a4 and Ra3, after which it will not be easy for Black to organize his typical counterplay.) 5...g6 6.Nc3 Bg7 7.a4! (This move is a key component of White's setup. The main idea is to strengthen his position on the queenside and avoid exchanging on a6, which would help Black to develop his pieces.) 7...0–0 8.Ra3 (This is a typical square for the white rook in this structure. The idea of putting the rook on a3 is that now the a4–pawn is not pinned anymore and the rook also moves to a safer square away from the a1–h8 diagonal which is always a cause of concern for White in the Benko.) 8...Bb7 (Black is clearly in no position to carry out his traditional queenside counterplay, so he focuses on the center instead.) 9.Nf3 e6! (Listen and you will hear the distant echo of the Blumenfeld Gambit!) 10.dxe6 fxe6 11.Qd6 axb5 12.Bxb5 Nc6 13.0–0 Ng4 14.Qg3 Nge5 15.Nxe5 Nxe5 16.e4
White is slightly better 16...Qf6 17.Bg5 Qf7 18.Be3 Qe7 19.Raa1 Nc6 20.Bxc6 Bxc6 21.a5 Rfb8 22.Ra2 Rb3 23.a6 d5 24.exd5 exd5 25.Bg5 Qe6 1–0 (67) Tang,A (2548)-Alonso Rosell,A (2538) Chess.com INT 2025
5...g6! (This is the most accurate order of moves, as sometimes Black will want to capture the pawn on a6 with the knight.)
5...Bxa6
Some sources claim this move is imprecise, but as Black has no better move than 6...g6 after 6.Nc3, there is no reason for us to look out for an imprecise move order, which might not be imprecise anyway. 6.Nc3 d6 7.e4 Bxf1 8.Kxf1 Nbd7 9.g3 h5 10.Kg2 h4 11.Bg5 hxg3 12.hxg3 Rxh1 13.Kxh1 g6 14.Nf3 Bg7 15.a4 Qb6 16.Qc2 Qb4 17.Kg2 Ng4 18.Nb5 Kf8 19.Ra2 Ndf6 20.Nd2 Nh7 21.Bf4 g5 22.Be3 Nxe3+ 23.fxe3 Nf6 24.Nc4 Ng4 25.Ra3 Qe1 26.a5 Be5 27.Nxe5 dxe5 28.Nc7 Rxa5 29.Rxa5 Nxe3+ 30.Kf3 g4# 0–1 (30) Toktomushev,T (2262)-Glidzhain,G (2204) chess.com INT 2025
6.Nc3! (White develops the knight on its natural square and shores up b2 as well. White also lends support to the d5–pawn as well as the e2–e4 central push.)
6...Bxa6 (This is the famous main variation. By sacrificing the pawn Black gets good control of the big 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 of queens swap.
6...Bg7 7.Nf3 0–0 8.g3
Fianchettoing the bishop on g2 has always been an attractive way of playing from the White Side in the Benko Gambit Accepted lines. 8...d6 9.Bg2 Nbd7 (The main difference between this position and the main line of the Benko, is that Black’s bishop remains on c8. The bishop on c8 prevents White from the usual ‘Rb1, b3–Bb2’. In this line White is unable to use this set-up. Black could also play 9...Nxa6, using the position of his bishop on c8.) 10.0–0 Nb6 11.Nd2 Bxa6 12.Qc2 Bb7! 13.e4 Ba6 14.Rd1 Ng4 15.Nf3 Nc4 16.h3 Nge5 17.Nxe5 Nxe5 18.b3 Qa5 19.Bb2 c4 20.Ne2 Rfc8 21.Bc3 cxb3 22.axb3 Qc5
Black has achieved all his goals, controlling all important squares and files.
7.e4 (This is the most straightforward way to fight against the Benko. White accepts a temporary inconvenience on the kingside and intends to castle artificially. In return he benefits from good control over the center, and the possibility of breaking with e4–e5 in the middlegame.)
7.Nf3 (is often played, but it has no real independent significance as White will soon play either e4 or g3 and we transpose to a main line variation.) 7...Bg7 8.g3 d6 9.Bg2 Nbd7 10.Rb1! (The obvious idea of this move is to meet Black's ...Nb6 with a calm b2–b3.) 10...0–0 This is definitely the main move.) 11.0–0 Qa5
This is by far Black's most popular option. It is the real starting position of the whole system. 12.Bd2! Bb7 13.Ne1 Qa6 14.b3 Nb6 15.e4 Nbd7 16.Qc2 Ng4 17.h3 Ngf6 18.f4 Qb6 19.Kh2 Ba6 20.Rf2 e6 21.dxe6 fxe6 22.Nf3 d5 23.exd5 exd5 24.Ne5 Nxe5 25.fxe5 Ng4+ 0–1 (40) Matveeva,O (2136)-Andrews,T (2165) chess.com INT 2024;
7...Bxf1 Denying White castling rights while giving the black knight and perhaps later the queen or a rook the a6–square to operate from.)
8.Kxf1 d6 (The starting point for the Classical Variation.)
9.g3 (Preparing to move the king to the safer g-file.)
9.Nf3 Qc8 10.h3 Bg7 11.g3 0–0 12.Kg2 Nbd7 13.Re1 Qb7!? (This move restrains e4–e5 and puts the queen on the same diagonal as the white king.) 14.Re2 Nb6 (Black prevents the e4–e5 break but loses all the momentum in his queenside attack.) 15.Bg5! h6 16.Bxf6!
Exchanging this bishop for a knight is not a decision to be taken lightly, but in this instance it works perfectly. 16...Bxf6 17.Rc1! (With this important move White prepares to solidify his queenside with b3, after which his a2–pawn will be defended by the rook on e2. If Black tries to regain his pawn by exchanging on c3 immediately, then White will recapture with the b-pawn, opening the second rank and ensuring the safety of the a2–pawn.) 17...Bg7 18.b3! Nd7 19.a4! (Intending Nb5 with a full blockade of the queenside. Note the complete ineffectiveness of the g7–bishop, which is mainly firing into thin air.) 19...c4 (This is Black's last chance to do anything active.) 20.bxc4 Qb4 21.Nb5 Rfc8 22.Nfd4 Qxa4 23.Qxa4 Rxa4 24.Nc6 Kf8 25.f4! Rca8 1–0 (39) Shneider,A (2545)-Levitina,I (2415) Helsinki 1992
9...Bg7 10.Kg2 0–0 (The black king also makes its exit from the centre and the f8–rook is activated.)
11.Nf3
The natural square for the knight, which can aid the e4–e5 push or sometimes make its way to the juicy c4–square via d2.
11...Qb6
11...Nbd7 (This is one of the sounder ways to meet the Benko Gambit. Karpov played it as White with quite good results. This knight sometimes can make its way to b6 to put pressure on d5 and c4 or aid in the exchange of a pair of knights after a future ...Ng4–e5.) 12.a4! (Currently the vogue continuation in the Benko Gambit. In the past, White used to concentrate on defending the queenside, with moves such as Re1–e2–c2, and trying to effect an e4–e5 break. However, in the past years, Chinese Grandmasters have discovered that by setting up with a4, Ra3, b2–b3 and Nb5 as quickly as possible, White can put a stop to Black's queenside intentions.) 12...Qb6 13.Qe2 Rfb8 14.Nb5 Ne8 15.Ra3 Nc7 16.Nxc7 Qxc7 17.b3 c4 18.Qxc4 Qxc4 19.bxc4 Rb4 1–0 (25) Bluebaum,M (2671)-Alonso Rosell,A (2538) chess.com INT 2025
12.a4 Nbd7 13.Qe2 (This move: 1) Releases the need for the knight on c3 to hold the e-pawn and so sets up Nc3–b5. 2) Overprotects the b2–pawn and so frees up the dark-squared bishop. 3) Prepares a future e4–e5 break.)
13.Ra3!?
This rook lift is becoming one popular idea these days. 13...Rfb8 14.Qc2 Qb4 15.Re1 Ng4 16.Na2 Qa5 17.b3 Qa6 18.Bd2 e6 19.dxe6 fxe6 20.Bf4 Nde5 21.Nxe5 Nxe5 22.Bxe5 Bxe5 23.Nc1 Bd4 24.Ne2 Qa5 25.Rc1 Qb4 26.Qa2 Bg7 27.Rc4 Qb7 28.Qc2 Bf8 29.Rc3 Bg7 30.Rc4 Bf8 ½–½ (30) Webster,R (2402)-Krzyzanowski,A (2388) ICCF 2025
13...Rfb8 (Intensifying the pressure on the b-file. Black has more or less achieved his ideal opening set-up.)
14.Nb5 (This knight foray shields the b2–pawn from the queen and rook battery.)
14...Ne8 (Black frees up the long diagonal for the dark-squared bishop and also prepares to contest the strong knight on b5 by exchanging it via ...Nc7.)
15.Bg5 (Taking advantage of the loose e7–pawn to gain a move. (Tay))
15.Ra3 Nc7 16.Nxc7 Qxc7 17.b3 h6 18.Qc2 c4 19.Qxc4 Qxc4 20.bxc4 Rb4 21.a5 Rxc4 22.Be3 Rxe4 23.Rb1 Nc5 24.Nd2 Re5 25.Bxc5 dxc5 26.Nc4 Re2 1–0 (38) Bluebaum,M (2640)-Xiong,J (2646) chess.com INT 2024
15...h6
15...Kf8 16.Nd2 Qb7 17.Ra2 Qa6 18.Rha1 Nc7 19.Qg4 Qc8 20.Qh4 f6 21.Nxc7 Qxc7 22.Bh6 Rb4 23.b3 Ne5 24.Bxg7+ Kxg7 25.Qh3 Qb7 0–1 (56) Matthes,A (2253)-Klenburg,M (2338) Berlin GER 2025
16.Bd2 Bxb2
16...Nc7 17.Nxc7 Qxc7 18.Bc3 Bxc3 19.bxc3 Ra5 20.Qe3 Kg7 21.h4 Nf6 22.h5 g5 23.c4 Rba8 24.e5 Ng4 25.Qc3 dxe5 1–0 (42) Kundianok,V (2335)-Friedel,M (2159) Munich GER 2024]
17.Rab1 Bg7 18.Na3 Qa7 19.a5 Nc7 20.Qd3 Qa6 21.Nc4 Nb5 22.Ne3 Nc7 23.Nc4 Nb5 24.Ne3 Nc7 25.Qc2 Rb5 [½–½ (50) Duchardt,A (2399)-Tocklin,T (2339) ICCF 2025]
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