5/3/2016

BenkoGambitWikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia

BenkoGambit
FromWikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia

TheBenkoGambit(orVolgaGambit)isachess
openingcharacterisedbythemove3...b5intheBenoni
Defensearisingafter:

BenkoGambit
a

1.d4Nf6
2.c4c5
3.d5b5
TheEncyclopaediaofChessOpenings(ECO)hasthree
codesfortheBenkoGambit:[1]
A573...b5
A583...b54.cxb5a65.bxa6
A593...b54.cxb5a65.bxa6Bxa66.Nc3d67.e4

Contents
1
2
3
4
5
6

Originandpredecessors
Theory
Use
Seealso
References
Furtherreading

1
a

Moves

1.d4Nf62.c4c53.d5b5

ECO

A57A59

Namedafter

PalBenko

Parent

BenoniDefense

Synonym(s)

VolgaGambit
VolgaBenkoGambit

Originandpredecessors
Theideaofsacrificingapawnwith...b5and...a6isquiteold.KarelOpoenskappliedtheideaagainst,
amongothers,GideonSthlbergatPodbrady1936,PaulKeresatPrnu1937,andErichEliskasesat
Prague1937.LatertheMarkTaimanovversusDavidBronsteingameattheCandidatesTournament,Zrich
1953,drewattention.MostofthesegamesbeganasaKing'sIndian,withBlackonlylaterplaying...c5and
...b5.Possiblythefirsttousethenowstandardmoveorder1.d4Nf62.c4c53.d5b5wasThorvaldsson
Vaitonis,MunichOlympiad1936.
Inmanycountries,particularlyintheEasternBloc,theopeningisknownastheVolgaGambit.Thisname
isderivedfromtheVolgaRiverafteranarticleabout3...b5!?byB.ArgunowwritteninKuibyshev(Samara
since1991),Russia,thatwaspublishedinthesecond1946issueofthemagazineShakhmatyvSSSR.
Beginninginthelate1960s,thisopeningideawasalsopromotedbyPalBenko,aHungarianAmerican
Grandmaster,whoprovidedmanynewsuggestionsandpublishedhisbookTheBenkoGambitin1974.The
nameBenkoGambitstuckandisparticularlyusedinEnglishspeakingcountries.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benko_Gambit

1/3

5/3/2016

BenkoGambitWikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia

Inhis1974book,BenkodrewadistinctionbetweentheBenkoGambitandtheVolgaGambit:"Volga
Gambit"referredtothemove3...b5(sometimesfollowedbyanearly...e6),whilethe"BenkoGambit"
consistedofthemoves3...b54.cxb5a6,whichisnowconsideredthemainline.[2]Nowthetermsare
synonymsandareusedinterchangeablyorjoinedtogetherwithahyphen(VolgaBenkoGambit).[3]

Theory
Themainlinecontinueswiththemoves4.cxb5a65.bxa6Bxa6followedbyBlackfianchettoingthef8
bishop.(Blackplayersleeryofthedoublefianchettosystem,whereWhiteplaysg3andb3,andfianchettos
bothbishops,havepreferred5...g6intending6.b3Bg77.Bb2Nxa6!Thepointisthatitisawkwardfor
Whitetomeetthethreatof...Nb4,hittingd5anda2,whenNc3mayoftenbemetby...Nfxd5becauseofthe
latentpindownthelongdiagonal.)Black'scompensationforthepawntakesseveralforms.First,White,
whoisalreadybehindindevelopment,mustsolvetheproblemofdevelopingthef1bishop.After6.Nc3
d6,ifWhiteplays7.e4,thenBlackwillplay7...Bxf1,andafterrecapturingwiththeking,Whitewillhave
tospendtimecastlingartificiallywithg3andKg2,asintheline7...Bxf18.Kxf1g69.g3Bg710.Kg2.If
Whiteavoidsthisbyfianchettoingthebishop,itwillbeinaratherpassiveposition,beingblockedby
White'sownpawnond5.
Apartfromthis,Blackalsoobtainsfastdevelopmentandgoodcontrolofthea1h8diagonalandcanexert
pressuredownthehalfopenaandbfiles.Thesearebenefitswhichcanlastwellintotheendgameandso,
unusualforagambit,Blackdoesnotgenerallymindifqueensareexchangedindeed,exchangingqueens
canoftenremovethestingfromakingsideattackbyWhite.
AlthoughthemainlineoftheBenkoisconsideredacceptableforWhite,therearevariousalternatives
whichavoidsomeoftheproblemsentailedinthemainline.Thesimplestistojustdeclinethegambitwith
4.Nf3.Otherpossiblemovesare4.Nd2,4.a4,and4.Qc2.Anotheridea,popularatthegrandmasterlevelas
of2004,istoacceptthepawnbutthenimmediatelyreturnitwith4.cxb5a65.b6.Anotherpopular
alternativeis5.e3.

Use
Thegambit'smostnotablepractitionerhasbeenitseponym,PalBenko.Manyoftheworld'sstrongest
playershaveuseditatonetimeoranother,includingformerworldchampionsViswanathanAnand,Garry
Kasparov,VeselinTopalovandMikhailTal,andGrandmastersVassilyIvanchuk,MichaelAdams,Alexei
Shirov,BorisGelfand,andEvgenyBareev.

Seealso
Listofchessopenings
Listofchessopeningsnamedafterpeople

References
1.ChessArchaeology:OpeningsclassifiedunderECOA57A59
(http://www.chessarch.com/library/0000_eco/a57_a59.shtml)
2.Benko,Pal(1974).TheBenkoGambit.B.T.Batsford,London.ISBN0713410582.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benko_Gambit

2/3

5/3/2016

BenkoGambitWikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia

3.Konikowski,Jerry(November2002)."AweaponagainsttheVolgaGambit".ChessBaseMagazine(ChessBase
GmbH)(98).

Furtherreading
Benko,Pal(1974).TheBenkoGambit.Batsford.
TheWikibookChess
Gufeld,Eduard(1988).BenkoGambit.Batsford.ISBN9780
OpeningTheoryhasapage
713455922.
onthetopicof:Benko
Gufeld,Eduard(1988).BenkoGambitAccepted.Simon&
Gambit
Schuster.ISBN9780020432814.
Fedorowicz,John(1990).TheCompleteBenkoGambit.Summit.ISBN9780945806141.
Ravikumar,V(1992).PlaytheBenkoGambit.Cadogan.ISBN9781857440140.
McDonald,Neil(2004).BenkoGambitRevealed.Batsford.ISBN9780713488685.
Pinski,Jan(2005).TheBenkoGambit.QualityChess.ISBN9789197524384.
Bellin,RobertandPonzetto,Pietro(1990).MasteringtheModernBenoniandtheBenkoGambit.
Batsford.ISBN9780713462883.
Retrievedfrom"https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Benko_Gambit&oldid=694907371"
Categories: Chessopenings
Thispagewaslastmodifiedon12December2015,at12:36.
TextisavailableundertheCreativeCommonsAttributionShareAlikeLicenseadditionaltermsmay
apply.Byusingthissite,youagreetotheTermsofUseandPrivacyPolicy.Wikipediaisa
registeredtrademarkoftheWikimediaFoundation,Inc.,anonprofitorganization.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benko_Gambit

3/3