A Detailed Guide to the Czech Benoni

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The Benoni is one of the most popular, most interesting, most aggressive, and, at the same time, riskiest defenses black could choose to play against d4. For an introduction to the opening, watch this video on the basics:    • Introduction to the Benoni Defense  

Its name has come from the Hebrew term “Ben Oni”, meaning son of sorrow, which depicts the defense perfectly. It can lead to quick, interesting wins, but it can also horribly backfire and you could get punished very quickly.

The Czech Benoni, also known as the Old Benoni, is the trickiest of them all to play. Why? Well, you have to know what you’re doing, simply put. It’s an opening which requires almost no theoretical knowledge, but you absolutely have to know the plans and patterns in it if you want to play it successfully.

Black’s play is going to revolve around piece maneuvers and pawn break preparation, while playing with less space and less piece activity. You might be wondering why anyone would play such a position in the first place. Well, if black does manage to break the position open and activate his pieces, he will often be much better.

The Czech Benoni is risky, it’s fun, and it’s an opening in which a better and more experienced player will usually win. It is also one of the best openings for improving positional and strategic play. You have ti play it with a plan in mind on each move or you lose, that is great for improvement!

Since the Czech Benoni relies so heavily on plans and patterns, this is the first time I covered almost no theory in a theoretical video. Instead I used example games to show you some common plans for both sides. This is not enough to be able to play it successfully. My advice is that you take 20-30 more games and analyze them yourself. That will be the easiest way to get better at the Czech Benoni.

#chess