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The Benko Gambit (also known as the Volga Gambit) is one of the most attractive chess openings for Black against 1.d4. Why? Because it’s a special kind of gambit which most club players rated below 2100 Elo are unable to deal with.
In the Benko Gambit, Black does not sacrifice a pawn for tactical counter-chances and a lead in development, but does so for positional reasons. Black sacrifices a pawn very early in the opening to obtain active piece play and long-lasting positional compensation in the form of the half-open a- and b-files.
From a practical point of view, White’s position is extremely difficult to play. For the White player, it requires a huge amount of deep opening preparation and positional understanding to prove anything against the Benko Gambit.
The Benko Gambit starts with the moves 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. d5 b5!?. This opening has been played by Super-Grandmasters such as Carlsen, Kasparov, Anand, Topalov, Ivanchuk, Bologan, Adams and Shirov, and is very dangerous to play against.
The Benko Gambit is one of these openings which does not get the attention it deserves, mainly because engines favor White with his extra pawn. However, diving deeper into the opening, even the strongest engines can’t show a clear way for White to get an advantage.
The Benko Gambit got its name in honor of the Hungarian-American Grandmaster Pal Benko, who contributed a lot to the theoretical development of the Benko Gambit in the 1960s and 1970s. In 1974, he finally published the book The Benko Gambit in which he provided many new ideas and suggestions for Black.
Yet, the Benko Gambit has stood the test of time and is still widely employed in the 21st century by Grandmasters and club players alike.
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