BENONI or BENKO ?

Friends, I m confused over following opening line..I prefer as black  to play  1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5, now if 3.d5..then what is good for me, i m confused  3.....b5 (benko gambit) ....e5 (czech benoni) or ....e6. I m attacking kind of player and also likes manuavouing style game,  but is these choices are depends on play strength level of opponents? Waiting your replies , Thanks :)

If you prefer a lot of manouvering, getting pieces ready before thrashing out the attack, then the Czech Benoni (3...e5) is for you.

The Benko Gambit (3...b5 - unsound in my humble opinion), Black gives up a pawn and tries to stir up trouble on White's Queenside.  I have a very high percentage score against the Benko Gambit against higher rated opposition, the latest being a 28-move tongue-lashing against Joshua Suich (2133) over the final weekend of 2012.  I haven't played this as Black but 2 times ever in my 2000+ tournament games, the latest being around 2005, and have no intention of ever playing this opening again as Black.  White?  Well of course!  Bring it on!

3...e6 is sound, but not recommended for someone that is looking for time to manouver his or her pieces.  It's an extremely agressive and tactical defense.  One of White's main goals is to attack you before you are fully developed.

The Czech Benoni is the most positional of the 3 you mentioned.

Thrillerfan, Thanks so very much, you advise is really helpful for me, now i almost want to play 3...e5 or g6 as Nakamura and some GMs played. i m looking at those lines now. thanks again. All the best to you for your future games. :)

The benko-gambit is not bad, just there are several ways how to decline it. The accepted benko is absolutely good for black, but I do not feel that the declined variations are good also.

I beg to differ.  Declining the Benko is useless for White.  The problem line for Black is the Fianchetto Variation.  White should ALWAYS accept the pawn in the Benko.

I worked out on czech benoni also, the line  after....Ne8 and then white's h4 is strong for white, black's position is passive in this line and hard to get positional advantage, and also in BENKO gambit, white can equalise the position after outposting Re2 and Qc2 structure,,,,i feel BUDAPEST gambit better than this. but its not accepted much on GM level, Benko gambit is more respected as played by carlsen, ivanchuk, kasparov and few othr GMs. finally i feel why not NIMZO INDIAN? a sharp line, if better than benko or benoni. 

Czech Benoni- Black gets very little room to breathe in the czech benoni. Its a bit of a try to absoloutely equalise, which is why its sometimes seen at GM level, but I think at our level playing tactica positions for the win is important. i wouldnt really recommend it.

Modern Benoni- This is a good tactical opening, although it is very risky. It requires a fair bit of memorisation. Some of the lines in the taimanov variation can be a bit rough, so i usggest before taking it up you check them out. If you can deal with the taimanov positions and the memorisation the benoni is a good opening.

Benko- I play this and think its great. There are some lines where black is getting squeezed a bit such as some fianchetto lines and 12.a4 (??) in the kingwalk. White can also decline it in various ways such as b6 which also deprive black of typical counterplay. The bright side is it is much much more difficult to play on the white side than the black, and as a weapon at club level i think it is amazing. It also relies on unerstanding of structures, themes and ideas rather than memorisation.

I *HIGHLY* (can't stress that enough) recommend getting the book,

"Mastering the Modern Benoni and the Benko Gambit with the Read and Play Method"

It explains everything you need to know about both of these systems--the strengths and weaknesses of the pawn structures involved, and the various moves and strategies you should know.

I was only an 1800 player when I started reading that book and I used the Benoni to stomp all over a few 2200's in standard time using what I had learned from the book. Very good stuff.

One thing about both defenses is that it can be double-edged at times.. you sometimes find yourself in very tactical positions. But once you learn the strategies and structural goals involved, the Benoni/Benko defenses can be quite thrilling to play with.

*thumbs up*

Thanks FEAR_ITSELF, i agree with your thoughts. i m preparing for 2000 rating level tournament. and i want to prepare tactical lines. rather than passive. may be i will prepare BENKO but the declining lines are problem. like b6 ,,and Nf3 etc.

I actually like playing against nf3 and suggest you follow this line, called vaganians gambit, rather than playing the boring symmetrical english lines.

You should look into the book 'attack with black', it uses the Benko, Blumenfeld and vaganians as the main repertoire choices. It also covers play against minor systems like the colle.

unless you mean a later nf3, which is more of a 'benko declined' now i think about it, you have a nice transposition to the blumenfeld. I also love to play this opening line. Black can come under pressure if white knows hes shit (who does know blumenfeld theory? lol). But if white accepts the gambit or plays some OTB concoction (if theyve never sen it before) black can egt immense piece play.

wooow, thanks Fear_itself again.  your advise is really helpful for me. now i m looking as you said. but what i m thinking is that 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 instead of c5 now, and if  play 3.Nc3 then i can get chance to go into nimzo indian Bb5 and if he play 3. Nf3 then i can play c5. so ....according to you what is good ? 2....c5 or 2....e6, thanks :)

both, and i think using the benoni if they dont go into a nimzo is a good idea if youre an aggressive player.

The nimzo is undeniably one of the best openings in chess, extremely solid with chances for black to win.

Its quite a theoretical repertoire, but if youre playing the nimzo using the benoni as a second wouldnt be much worse than learning the queens indian.

ya , am preparing for NImzo using benoni if Nf3. most players prepared with b6 line if they are going to play Nf3. thanks 

The Benko is absolutely fine for Black and is played even by Top GM's!You get tremendous queenside pressure and active pieces,not to forget the initiative by playing the benko!Well,worth a pawn!The fianchetto variation is normal and you have nothing to fear.Just check out a few games and learn a few ideas to counter it.Even the declined variations and the b6 pawn push are all ok for black.You just need to understand the Ideas and the structure well enough.The pawn structure in the benko is so good for black that even if you enter the endgame a pawn down,ur position will still be pretty good!Attacking with the Benko gambit by Allejandro Ramirez is a nice dvd in whic he explains everything bout the benko,so check it out if ur interested!

Thanks Likhit 

The Benko is powerful...in the right hands;I would never treat it lightly as White, and have a few wins against my betters with Black;low rent club level of course,but still...

You can also check your Sicicilan Dragon skills with the Benko. Just take the pawn on d4 and your opponent will land on the wrong foot, because the position is transposed into a Sicilian Maroczy-Bind.

You are very smart man IMpfren. White doesn't have to play the Benko at all.

There are different ways to avoid the Benko. One of them is 3.Nf3