Modern Benoni
A70 · Played as black · Advanced · Indian Defences
A ruined structure and a queenside majority — Tal's favourite kind of chess
The main line
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 e6 4.Nc3 exd5 5.cxd5 d6 6.e4 g6 7.Nf3 Bg7 8.Be2 O-O 9.O-O Re8
Strategic ideas
- Accept a backward d-pawn and a space disadvantage for the queenside pawn majority
- Aim the g7 bishop down the long diagonal at White's centre and queenside
- Push …b5 to roll the majority and open lines for the rooks
- Use the half-open e-file against White's e4-pawn
- Play for a win with Black at the cost of genuine risk — there is no drawish version of this
Key themes
- Dynamic — The structure is objectively worse; only piece activity and the pawn majority justify it
- Counterattack — Black concedes the centre and counterattacks on the queenside where the majority lives
- Attack — The …b5 break and the long diagonal generate a real attack, not just counterplay
Typical plans
The Benoni is a deliberately unbalanced fight. Black takes a structure that any textbook would call bad — backward d-pawn, less space, a hole on d6 — in exchange for a queenside pawn majority and the fiercest dark-squared bishop in chess. The plans are crystal clear: Black plays …a6 and …b5, White plays e4-e5 or f4-f5. Whoever's break lands first tends to win. Tal loved it, which is either a recommendation or a warning depending on temperament.
Move by move
- d4 — White claims the centre.
- Nf6 — Black develops and controls e4 with a piece.
- c4 — White grabs space and prepares Nc3.
- c5 — Black hits d4 immediately, offering an asymmetrical fight.
- d5 — White pushes past, closing the centre and taking a big space advantage.
- e6 — Black challenges the d5-pawn at once — the Modern Benoni move order.
- Nc3 — White develops and supports d5.
- exd5 — Black takes, opening the e-file.
- cxd5 — White recaptures with the pawn, keeping the space advantage and reaching the Benoni structure.
- d6 — Black shores up e5 and c5, accepting the backward d-pawn that defines this opening.
- e4 — White builds the big centre.
- g6 — Black prepares the fianchetto. The bishop on g7 is the piece that justifies the whole structure.
- Nf3 — White develops and prepares to castle.
- Bg7 — Black completes the fianchetto, aiming at d4 and the queenside.
- Be2 — White develops modestly, keeping options open.
- O-O — Black castles, getting the king safe before the wing battle starts.
- O-O — White castles too, connecting the rooks.
- Re8 — Black puts the rook on the half-open e-file, pointing at e4. Black has less space and a worse structure, and White has to watch the queenside majority every single move — an entirely fair trade.