Hi guys,
I usually play the Benko/Volga Gambit and after some Anti-Benko lines I end up with a d6-c5-b6 pawn structure. In parallel to that, I'm looking for a way to face 1.e4, so I thought, what if I played Owen Defense against e4, and then play 2.c5?
Could you please give me some advice regarding this? Can I get trapped into an overwhelmingly advantageous White opening by playing this line? Or else, is there another way I can transpose 1.e4 into a Benko Gambit?
Thanks
1 e4 b6 2 d4 c5 3 d5 is indeed quite overwhelmingly advantageous for White.
There is really no way to obtain a Benko-like position vs 1 e4. Maybe the closest thing you could get is through a Tiger's Modern 1. e4 g6 2 d4 Bg7 3 Nc3 d6 followed by ...a6, ...b5, ...Bb7, ...Nd7 and ...c5
Not at all good. White just advances the d-pawn, black has nothing. Benko is against 1. d4, there's no way to play it against 1. e4.
Just try some of the popular defenses to e4 and see which one you like.
Thank you very much !
Primarily the question should be if anyone can afford 3. dxc5 bxc5 4.Qd5!?, shouldn’t it?
By the way, reversed against Sicilian it seems ok: 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 b6!?.
4.Qd5!? is answered by Qa5+ and Nc6
The main issue with this line is 3.d5 d6 4.Fb5+! Fd7 5.a5
@natello35 “4.Qd5!? is answered by Qa5+ and Nc6“
Indeed, but it seems to me that 4. ... Qa5+ loses on the spot. Can you elaborate on that?
True :)
4.Qd5 Qa5 6. Bd2 is game over (both queen and Ra8 hanging).
4.Qd5 Nc6 6. Qxc5 might work, maybe. Hey, Black is back at a gambit.
There is at least one possibility to have a middlegame like the Benko against 1.e4, i.e. open files on the queenside and easy development. Of course it won't happen by force, just like the Benko, and it's not a transposition, it's a different position with some similarity.
1.e4 d5 2.exd5 Nf6 3.d4 Bg4 4.Bb5+ Nbd7 5.f3 Bf5 6.c4 a6 (the critical line of the Portugese opening) 7.Ba4 b5 8.cxb5 Nxd5 9.bxa6 and here you have your open files with fluid development. The dark square bishop can go to e7 and f6, or to c5 depending on circumstances.
Perhaps there are other occurences of Benko-style positions against 1.e4, it's just a matter of degree of similarity.
PS: 1.e4 b6 2.d4 c5 3.dxc5 bxc5 4.Qd5 Nc6 (Qa5+?? 5.Bd2+- wins a rook) 5.Qxc5 e5 is a decent gambit for Black. After 3.d5, Black has a bad Benoni with a wasted tempo on b6 and White has a choice of playing c4 or not.
