Hello everyone, I would like to analyze and study from a few games on the Czech Benoni as I found it to be incredibly useful against my opponents. There is a lot of theory here, but if you are dedicated to study this opening in depth, you can use it to your advantage and punish your opponents that fall into your prep.
If this article is too much to handle in one go (If I didn't write this article, I would say it's pretty overwhelming in terms of the amount of information this article holds), do take your time, take as long as you need to remember the lines or assess the positions in the following games.
I took one and a half days to write this article along with doing research to write this article, but I did learn a lot so I think it was worth it
I would like to recommend using the 365chess.com database to prepare for your own games as they provide free statistics on nearly all lines so you can check for yourself the probability of a line being good/suitable for you. The statistics I used were all from the 365chess database and are greatly useful for one's preparation.
NOTE:
I avoided the use of long engine lines because I tried putting down lines for 1 hour straight and these darn computers need to go through 50 moves in a position where white has a +2.00 advantage to convert into a +4.00 advantage. Looking at those computer lines are absolutely useless, because as humans, we do not play against a 3200 rated stockfish at all in a serious game, let alone in a Benoni position.
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First off, I would like to bring up the standard position and ideas of the Czech Benoni.
As you can see, the position seems complicated with possible pawn breaks for both sides with ideas of pushing f4 for white, pushing f5 for black, and ideas of pushing b5 for black.
The computer absolutely despises the Czech Benoni giving it a +1.00 advantage for white in the position after a6. Even though the computer dislikes it, human players absolutely do not find computer moves so don't worry of the computer evaluation because even at times the computer gives close to a +2.00 advantage for white and increases but it's highly unclear how to convert white's position to a clear cut win. The only way to increase the computer's evaluation of white's position is to play at least 20 moves of absolutely precise engine lines which will not happen in a game.
Reason to go for a6 plans over Ne8 plans in the opening:
Based on the 365chess database, in the a6 lines, black wins 48.6% of games, drawing 24.3% and only losing 27% of games. I suspect that black is highly prepared in these lines while white is caught off guard and can quickly lose grip. Great winning probability if played correctly
In the Ne8 lines, black wins 21.3% of games, drawing 34% of games and losing 44.7% of games. Clearly statistically white generally wins in these lines.
To add on this point, a6 is very flexible while Ne8 isn't. Plus, Ne8 can be played in the middle game and does not necessarily have to be played in the opening stage.
Now let's go over some lines with structures of playing a6 instead of Ne8
a6 structures:
White playing the tempting early immediate pawn break of f4??
Clearly the early f4 before castling is clearly worse for white or borderline losing.
How about playing f4 after castling?
Based on these nasty computer lines, you can see that overall the final resulting position is equal but there are so many lines that white can fall into that simply loses. Your opponents that are not prepared for your Czech Benoni might be over ambitious and play an early f4 and fall into your preparation
Most valiant efforts for white in response to a6?
9. a4 Nb6
I would like to say that I don't think Nb6 is the best nor the most practical move in response to a4. If you don't want to waste your time reading this analysis, feel free to proceed to the next possible response to 9. a4
The following game is played between Ollier, Pablo (1910) vs Chaillot, Alain (2109) in 2005. Even though the player with the black pieces is higher rated, his opponent is no slouch either. The main point I'd like to deliver is the plan that black involving the knight maneuver which proves to be effective. Even though many inaccuracies were played by both sides, this is besides the point.
I stopped annotating the following game after move 49 because it was a blunderful game and the concern most likely time pressure. So analyzing would be useless.
Not a perfect game at all but it shows that Nb6 does have potential, however, the white player did not find a good way to punish black's passive setup and thus lost.
9. a4 Rb8
The following game was played by Leon Oquendo, Jorge (2398) vs. Martinez Duany, Lelys Stanley (2504) . Black is higher rated but showed great positional prowess in this line.
Prophylaxis in this game was key, when black played Ng4, he already expected Bh3 and brilliantly played Rf6 to go Rg6, keeping lines open to attack.
CONCLUSION:
I conclude that after analyzing these lines for hours now, in response to 9. a4 black should respond with Rb8 with ideas of playing Ne8-Nc7 with the idea of pushing b5 when allowed, and placing the bishop on f6 with g6 to follow, fianchettoing the bishop. When permitted, playing f5 followed by e4 is also very strong with the pawn still on c5 due to complete dark square control.
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What if white doesn't play g3 and Bg2?
Another popular variation of playing against the Czech Benoni is playing Nf3 followed by h3-g4, largely due to Kasparov's success against Anthony Miles in 1986. No annotations in this game.
Recommended setup with black?
Now let's get practical.
Here is one of my 3/0 blitz games where I do make inaccuracies but in my defense, I haven't studied the Czech Benoni in depth during the time I played this game.
I already analyzed this in my previous article of "Online Blitz Mindset".
This concludes my very long analysis of the Czech Benoni. Hopefully you learned plenty about this opening and can see apply it to great effect
Please do leave your comments and or questions in the comments below, that's it from me.
Thank you for reading!
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Notable games you can check for yourself:
However, do be warned that they are very complicated. Analyze at your own pace and enjoy
