Offbeat variations against Benko? Suggestions appreciated

@nhl_1 said in #7:

Instead of concrete lines, I give some strategic ideas:

• Accept the gambit. Everything else causes no problems for black, usually due to e7-e6 sooner or later.
• If he played Ba6xf1, bring your king to a safe place on the king side, by playing g3 and Kf1-g2.
• play a4. If necessary, protect e4, ideally with queen e2 (later she often goes to c2). Play Nb5, closing the b-file. If he brings his queen to b4, you can sometimes sacrifice the b2 pawn with Bd2 and catch his queen with rb1 if she takes.
• play Ra3 (prevents xb5 tactics), if necessary, b3.
• Try to play Nf3-d2-c4(-e3(-f5)).
• Often bishop c1 goes the route (g5-)d2-c3. Sometimes also to e3, where he pins the c5 pawn against a Qb6, threatening b4.
• If he plays c4, hooray, you get the d4 square for your knights and bishop.
• If he puts all his pieces on queen side, check if you can do a quick attack on the king side with h4, g4.
• If he plays on the king side, push the a-pawn.
• Always check if you can play e4-e5.
• Always check if you can play b4.
• Watch for black e7-e6 ideas. Don't be afraid of them, but be prepared for them.
• Watch for Ne1+ (damn, I dropped my queen so often that way).

I just wrapped up a Benko game and I thought of this thread. I played almost all of the ideas in this list, a very successful game. I was doing well but let my advantage slip away into a draw. Still, a very instructive game for me.

@ShaneTrain Good game indeed. Analysis shows that with the prophylactic 22.b3 Qa8 23.Rab1! (preventing Rxb5 and Ra2, against which you then have Rb2) you could have kept things on the queen side under control. Admittedly, not simple to find. Then according to the plan (his pieces are on the queen side) g4, Kg3, g5, h4-h5, with excellent winning chances.

@nhl_1 said in #12:

@ShaneTrain Good game indeed. Analysis shows that with the prophylactic 22.b3 Qa8 23.Rab1! (preventing Rxb5 and Ra2, against which you then have Rb2) you could have kept things on the queen side under control. Admittedly, not simple to find. Then according to the plan (his pieces are on the queen side) g4, Kg3, g5, h4-h5, with excellent winning chances.

Thanks for the analysis! In the game I was more focused on a center breakthrough, which turned out not to be very productive. A kingside breakthrough looks more promising in hindsight. I always have a tough time locking down the queen side pressure too, especially against this opponent who is really good with the Benko.

Interesting is also the line 13.Qe2. If black then plays like in the game, 13...Rfb8 14.Nb5 Ng4? (14...Ne8 is better, which leads to a theory line after 15.Bg5 h6! 16.Bxe7 Rb7), then you can play 15.Nd2!?. If your queen is on c2, black can then play 15...c4! 16.Nxc4 Qxf2! 17.Qxf2 Nxf2 18.Kxf2 Rxb5, but when the queen is on e2, 15...c4? does not work, as the queen on e2 attacks the knight on g4. (16.Qxg4+-). The queen is also better placed against f7-f5 (e-file).

Another interesting line is 15.h3 Nge5 16.Nxe5 Nxe5 17.Bg5 Qb7 18.b3 c4 Ra2 19.Rc8 Rb1. Will try that line in my next game.