Answers.Body: <p>In <strong>most</strong> lines of Benko black has sufficient counterplay. Sadly most is not all.</p>
  <p>In particular the problematic line is inside the King walk variation:
  <strong>1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. d5 b5 4. cxb5 a6 5. bxa6 g6 6. Nc3 Bxa6 7. e4 Bxf1 8. Kxf1 d6 9. Nf3 Bg7 10. g3 O-O 11. Kg2 Nbd7 12. a4!</strong></p>
  <p>White is planing to play <strong>Nb5</strong>, which practically shuts down black topical queenside play. Don't forget that white is still a pawn up.
  If black is very careful he may still draw, but winning is practically out of reach.</p>
  <p>It's unlikely that black can find some improvement later in this line,
  so we have to look for alternatives at earlier point.</p>
  <p>First approach that was tried in practice was trying to speed up development. Logic behind this approach goes like this: losing castling rights didn't really harm white (since he just &quot;king-walked&quot; to safety on g2),
  while it slightly delayed our development. So lets try delaying <strong>Bxa6</strong>, for example:
  <strong>1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. d5 b5 4. cxb5 a6 5. bxa6 g6 6. Nc3 Bg7 7. e4 O-O 8. Nf3 Qa5 9. Bd2 Bxa6</strong> In practical play
  this is probably the best choice, since positions are still thematic. Just be aware that white has some advantage with accurate play.</p>
  <p>Another approach is to go for very early <strong>e6</strong> pawn break. This approach is probably the soundest, but it sadly
  leads to positions that aren't exactly &quot;Benko-like&quot;: <strong>1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. d5 b5 4. cxb5 a6 5. bxa6 e6 6. Nc3 exd5 7. Nxd5 Be7 8. Nxe7 Qxe7</strong>
  As you can see position is a bit messy, but objectively close enough to draw. Problem with this approach is, that you are practically not playing Benko anymore.
  What's worse is, that you have to go for it so early, that you also evade Fianchetto and other variations, which you probably want to play against.</p>
  
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2024-03-06T13:59:21.253Z
Answers.Text: I am heartbroken to hear this. I thought the benko might be the sound and dynamic response to d4 I have been craving. Back to the drawing board (T＿T)
Answers.UserDisplayName: anti - Marshall
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Answers.CreationDate: 2024-03-06T14:20:47.683Z
Answers.Text: @anti-Marshall the question is if you really need something totally sound? You will get this line in vast minority of the games, until you get to at least 1800-2000 fide. Even then white followup won't be most precise. If you want to play absolutely soundest lines your only options against 1. d4 are either nimzo + one of vienna/ragozin/qgd, semi-slav or KID.
Answers.UserDisplayName: Matija Sirk
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Answers.CreationDate: 2024-03-06T14:37:54.377Z
Answers.Text: @anti-Marshall I really wouldn't worry. Unless you are regularly playing extremely strong players opening prep isn't really that important. It's much more important that you are comfortable in positions from e.g. the Benko and are happy to play them against all comers than a marginal measure of soundness or not. At club level and a bit above certainly all the standard responses to 1d4 are more than playable.
Answers.UserDisplayName: Ian Bush
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Answers.Text: @Ian your statement is correct and indeed I doubt it will ever mostly be a problem from a practical standpoint, it's mostly just a "feeling good" thing if you get it.
Answers.UserDisplayName: anti - Marshall
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Answers.CreationDate: 2024-03-06T14:57:52.043Z
Answers.Text: @MatijaSirk practically speaking, you are correct but it just helps my confidence no end to know my response is theoretically A grade.
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Answers.UserDisplayName: Matija Sirk
Body: <p>Is the benko a sound gambit? Can I craft a &quot;lifetime repertoire&quot; around the benko? the engine disagrees but I have heard that the benko gives very long term compensation that may not be picked up on by our silicon friends.</p>
  
Tags: <opening><benko-gambit>
Title: Soundness and engine evaluation of the benko
ThreadText: # Soundness and engine evaluation of the benko
  
  (Asked by: username_0 on 2024-03-06)
  
  Is the benko a sound gambit? Can I craft a "lifetime repertoire" around the benko? the engine disagrees but I have heard that the benko gives very long term compensation that may not be picked up on by our silicon friends.
  
  **Tags:** opening, benko-gambit
  
  
  ---
  
  ## 1 answers
  
  ### Answer by username_1 on 2024-03-06. Score: 3
  
  In **most** lines of Benko black has sufficient counterplay. Sadly most is not all.
  
  In particular the problematic line is inside the King walk variation:
  **1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. d5 b5 4. cxb5 a6 5. bxa6 g6 6. Nc3 Bxa6 7. e4 Bxf1 8. Kxf1 d6 9. Nf3 Bg7 10. g3 O-O 11. Kg2 Nbd7 12. a4!**
  
  White is planing to play **Nb5**, which practically shuts down black topical queenside play. Don't forget that white is still a pawn up.
  If black is very careful he may still draw, but winning is practically out of reach.
  
  It's unlikely that black can find some improvement later in this line,
  so we have to look for alternatives at earlier point.
  
  First approach that was tried in practice was trying to speed up development. Logic behind this approach goes like this: losing castling rights didn't really harm white (since he just "king-walked" to safety on g2),
  while it slightly delayed our development. So lets try delaying **Bxa6**, for example:
  **1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. d5 b5 4. cxb5 a6 5. bxa6 g6 6. Nc3 Bg7 7. e4 O-O 8. Nf3 Qa5 9. Bd2 Bxa6** In practical play
  this is probably the best choice, since positions are still thematic. Just be aware that white has some advantage with accurate play.
  
  Another approach is to go for very early **e6** pawn break. This approach is probably the soundest, but it sadly
  leads to positions that aren't exactly "Benko-like": **1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. d5 b5 4. cxb5 a6 5. bxa6 e6 6. Nc3 exd5 7. Nxd5 Be7 8. Nxe7 Qxe7**
  As you can see position is a bit messy, but objectively close enough to draw. Problem with this approach is, that you are practically not playing Benko anymore.
  What's worse is, that you have to go for it so early, that you also evade Fianchetto and other variations, which you probably want to play against.
  
  > **Comments:**
  > **username_0**: I am heartbroken to hear this. I thought the benko might be the sound and dynamic response to d4 I have been craving. Back to the drawing board (T＿T)  
  > **username_1**: @username_0-username_0 the question is if you really need something totally sound? You will get this line in vast minority of the games, until you get to at least 1800-2000 fide. Even then white followup won't be most precise. If you want to play absolutely soundest lines your only options against 1. d4 are either nimzo + one of vienna/ragozin/qgd, semi-slav or KID.  
  > **username_2**: @username_0-username_0 I really wouldn't worry. Unless you are regularly playing extremely strong players opening prep isn't really that important. It's much more important that you are comfortable in positions from e.g. the Benko and are happy to play them against all comers than a marginal measure of soundness or not. At club level and a bit above certainly all the standard responses to 1d4 are more than playable.  
  > **username_0**: @Ian your statement is correct and indeed I doubt it will ever mostly be a problem from a practical standpoint, it's mostly just a "feeling good" thing if you get it.  
  > **username_0**: @username_1 practically speaking, you are correct but it just helps my confidence no end to know my response is theoretically A grade.  
  
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