How to learn Benko gambit.

So i would like to start playing the Benko gambit, How do i learn it? Where should i learn the ideas. i really need a strong response other than the Slav to d4. any ideas on opinings. or how to play the Benko would be great! thanks :)

Do not play the Benko.

I started playing it a few months ago by playing over GM games.  Junior Tay has a very good book called Benko Gambit Move By Move.

thanks i am second. Why breaker? lol

You sac a pawn for queenside activity. But there are other openings that fight for activity and are aggressive. It's not good if white knows what to do. I know Benko players that gave it up the higher rated they got because their opponents defended better.

I dont think the Benko is any different than any other opening.  The only purpose of the opening is to get to a playable middlegame.  Give it a try, and if its nit your thing, then try another opening.  Thats what i did, and the Benko works for me.

Agree. I never play it, but I find it very annoying if black knows what he/she is doing. Now I'm playing 4. f3 with good results.

@I_Am_Second, I respect your opinion but the Benko is an opening that is inherently different from other openings because it is a gambit. If I understand you, you aren't concerned about winning or ratings. Perhaps the Benko suits you because you play just for the fun of it. But I'm sure theCman has aspirations to hit expert and possibly master. To hit those goals, I strongly believe a player needs a reliable repetoire that excludes the Benko (but maybe used very rarely for a "surprise" effect).

With the benko i have beaten Experts, so i know it works at that level :-)

The Benko is a very well respected gambit. I was told I wold like it. So I tried it out and failed. After some research I learned you need to know how to play the Benoni first. I'm terribad at the Benoni. But I saw how they relate.

I suggest starting there (Benoni).

I thought Ivanchuk played the Benko about 2 days ago.

That game 2 against Radjabov looked like a Benko to me.

Do you agree with the idea of learning the Benoni first?

Dale wrote:

I thought Ivanchuk played the Benko about 2 days ago.

That game 2 against Radjabov looked like a Benko to me.

@NM Dale, That game looked like a Reti. Definitely not a Benko - there was no pawn sacrifice.

@I_Am_Second, when you beat those "experts", was it otb or online? Online results tend to be dodgy. And honestly, I've scored victories with subpar openings (for lack of a better term) like the Larsen opening, modern def, KIA, London system, Owen's def, etc. But I don't rely on those openings to carry me to the next level.

@theCman, if you'd like , I can have you talk with two of my friends that dropped the Benko Gambit as their main d4 response. They both dropped it when they hit class A because it no longer was satisfactory to them against tougher opposition. On of them is learning the Grunfeld and the other the King's Indian def.

@breaker90 - it was OTB.  As i said before, its an opening.  Sure some are better than others, but I dont think any of us are so good that we need to be concerned about getting beat by a good opening like the Benko.  I dont mean any disrespect by these comments, its just that i think some players put way to much emphasis on openings.  Sure, maybe at the GM level, openings are a premium.  But to the rest of us, i dont think its that urgent. 

Then again...i may very well have no idea what im talking about :-)

With all due respect Cookie Monster, how was my original comment inacurrate?

The Benko doesn't have any high-level GM pracitioners. It hasn't been played in high level chess in forever. Why is that?  Is it the GMs fault for not understanding chess?

You say you've played the Benko within the past year and have beaten experts and masters. Yet, on USCF, it says you've only beaten 3 experts (I have a hard time that those 3 wins have been from playing the black side of the Benko) within the past year. It also reports that you've never beaten a master OTB. I don't find your comments credible at all.

This is part of my issue with "opening advice" on chess.com  Class players dishing out opening advice based on GM speak.  Lets just say that in fact the Benko Gambit doesnt work at the 2200 and above level.  So why shouldnt anyone below 2200 not play it?

Since the Berlin is so popular now, why arent I and everyone else playing it?

CookieMonster, so you have two different USCF accounts that never merged? And on this other untraceable account you've beaten experts and masters within the past year? Yeah, I'm calling BS. Unless you can prove it by providing the ID number(s).

You made the original claim that people don't play the Benko don't understand chess. Simple deductive logic would then mean that you are claiming GMs don't know chess since it is very rarely played. That is just wrong. My comment was never about what a u2300 knows and doesn't know so I don't know why you brought that up.

You never refuted my original comment and explained why it was inaccurate (I'll give you a hint - it wasn't).

@I_Am_Second, You're right. Lower rated players can play openings that suit their taste. Personally, I say if you want to become a high rated player, then one should play "mainstream" openings even when they're lower rated. Why? Because they shouldn't waste time on rubbish opening systems that they will abandon when they get higher rated. If you don't care for rating, then that's understandable that you play whatever opening fits your taste. But I actually know theCman and his chess goals. He does play openings like Ruy Lopezs, Semi-Slavs, and Sicilians. I feel that learning the Grunfeld and/or King's Indian will help him in the long run because he probably will stick to those openings when he becomes Master. My advice was not based soley on GM speak.

@breaker90 - The reasons you give is precisely why i play the Benko.  Its not popular at the world class level, so i knnow im not going to run into class players that "book up" on it.  IF i decide to take the game more seriously, I would still play the Benko.  As long as it proves successful, it should be played.  The same can and will be said for the current hot girlfriend, the Berlin.  All it will take is a Super GM finding a novelty, and it will fall off the face of the earth, and that sound you hear will be the class players following suit.  Just like someone findging something new in the Benko, and players will jumping on that bandwagon.  To call it rubbish?  I dont agree, but...to each is own...

Cookiemoster, in your first post, you gave your credentials while giving advice. I noticed that your credentials don't sppear to be true. I don't think it's too much to ask you to prove your credentials.

You're right, quoting you would be correct. But I would argue the claim if a player quits the Benko as the competition got higher, it's not because they don't know chess, it's because they know chess better. For example, when a beginner starts out, they play the Bishop's opening, or the Fried Liver attack, the Colle system, or the Four Knights, etc. But as they get better, they then start to play more "mainstream" openings. Why? Because their understanding of chess gets better and the usual tricks don't work on the tougher opposition. They want to extract every advantage possible so they play the Ruy Lopez, the Sicilian, the Slavs, the King's Indian, the Nimzo, etc. Having said all this, all the openings I've mentioned above are acceptable (along with the Benko) but they tend to become unsatisfactory the higher the players get.

The reason why GMs play what they play is because of their training. Yes, this is true. But the reason why the training is what it is is because these young kids are ambitious to reach GM and so they don't waste time on certain openings.

Thank You CM!