The Benoni Defense is a chess opening characterized by an early reply of c5 against White’s opening move 1. 4 c5 This gives Black komarov dmitry options such as an early f5, but has the drawback that White is no longer committed to playing c4 after the response 2. This article uses algebraic notation to describe chess moves.

Hebrew name, still occasionally used, meaning “son of my sorrow”. It is a reference to the Biblical account of the dying Rachel giving birth to Benjamin, whom she named Ben-Oni. In 1825 Aaron Reinganum, a prominent member of the Frankfurt Jewish community, published a book entitled Ben-Oni oder die Vertheidigungen gegen die Gambitzüge im Schache in which he analyzed several defences to the King’s Gambit and the Queen’s Gambit, as well as the then unknown opening 1. Saint Amant match, Saint Amant met 1. 4 with 1c5 in the second and fourth games.

This opening is not favorable to Black. White, which deprives Black of all the advantages of a good opening. Subsequently, the name “Benoni” came to be associated with the opening 1. 4 c5, and later with 1. The Old Benoni starts with 1.

5 e6 leads to no advantage, and 2. The Old Benoni may transpose to the Czech Benoni, but there are a few independent variations. This form has never attracted serious interest in high-level play, though Alexander Alekhine defeated Efim Bogoljubow with it in one game of their second match, in 1934. In the Czech Benoni, also known as the Hromadka Benoni, after Karel Hromádka, Black plays 1. Modern Benoni, but also more passive. The combination of these two features differentiates Black’s setup from the other Benoni defenses and the King’s Indian Defense, although transpositions between these openings are common.