Benoni Defense
The Benoni Defense, or simply the Benoni, is a chess opening characterized by an early reply of ...c5 against White's opening move 1.d4.
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| Moves | 1.d4 c5 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| ECO | A43–A44 A56–A79 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Origin | Ben-Oni oder die Vertheidigungen gegen die Gambitzüge im Schache by Aaron Reinganum (1825) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Named after | Hebrew: "son of sorrow" | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Parent | Queen's Pawn Opening | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The original form of the Benoni, now known as the Old Benoni, is characterized by
This leaves Black a few options such as an early ...f5 and an early dark-squared bishop trade by ...Be7-g5, but has the drawback that White is no longer committed to playing c2-c4 after the response 2.d5. White may prefer to occupy c4 with a knight, or to inconvenience Black's development with an early bishop check on b5.
More commonly, it is reached by the sequence:
Black can then offer a pawn sacrifice with 3...b5 (the Benko Gambit), otherwise 3...e6 is the most common move, leading to the Modern Benoni. 3...d6 or 3...g6 are also seen, typically transposing to main lines, or to lines of the King's Indian Defense.