BENONI DEFENSE - No-Nonsense Beginner Guide

Hello everyone! This is a quick beginner guide to playing the benoni defense, or more officially, the old benoni defense. This is likely the easiest opening to learn against d4, and is very easy to play at the beginner level.
0:00 Intro
0:11 dxc5
1:36 Misc moves
2:43 dxe6
3:19 Mainline Setup
5:08 Outro

[@EvanEvansE3]

What I do, is everytime I play the Benoni, I come back to this video and re-watch it. It's an excellent way to train your memory.

[@abhijeetsinghparihar]

Have you memorized all of the lines by now?

[@EvanEvansE3]

​abhijeetsinghparihar haha. No. 😊

[@mubaraksenju7521]

Benoni is quite complicated actually. There's many more sidelines to cover. Mostly I play King's Indian Defense, but now I'm indulging myself with the Benoni and test it out.

[@finwasfound]

​@@mubaraksenju7521bro same i keep seeing people saying kings indian isnt that good but idk any other opening against d4 so i play it but now im thinking of doing the benoni defense

[@thombooth5773]

Fantastic guide. So many opening guides are so tedious, but this is fast pace and explains all the main ideas behind the moves. Thanks!

[@mansisingh3361]

Thanks for benomi trap now I can crush queen pawn players

[@vikatempest6966]

Basically London players

[@mansisingh3361]

@@vikatempest6966 🤣🤣🤣

[@WRSHP]

Yoo thanks man! I’m not playing and learning Benoni but came here to appreciate the work, keep it up)

[@matheusclaudio7529]

Very good video, been waiting for something like this for a while, nice work, thank you

[@sssupermonkey]

this is the only opening video about benoni that i understand thank you very much this helped me alot as a begginer pls make more videos

[@lambertchoa3524]

One of the best and most comprehensive chess KZbinr ❤️

[@tessa8230]

Wonderful video! Look forward to binging this series

[@alfredMonty]

Thank you. All of the points regarding positional advantages are helpful because there's no way I'd notice that at a glance or understand the reasoning behind an engine's evaluation. I'm more used to 1 to 3 move tactics.

[@DOOM-PREDATOR]

Straight straight to point 👍

[@divergentlife493]

TY This is helpful. Because the most response I run into is that they don't do anything. No eat or push. So now I know what to do. Just eat their pond. Both horse out and fiancheso the dark bishop.

[@willallwayslovemusic]

I like this opening! Good explanation i would like to see more of this opening or openings like this with Black.

[@RayaanVivaan]

Thank you for the video , was looking for a good line against 1.d4

[@Edouard7800]

great vid covering all the things ! Thx

[@TheRooksac]

Bruh thats so OP its easy AF and super strong. Thanks for that! 🥰

[@juelzsantana1075]

wow, very clear and concise!

[@williamhuynh869]

Cool stuff man. I play the reti gambit as white and I was debating between the Old Benoni and New Benoni as my reply to d4. I was unsure of the old benoni since stockfish says it is losing for black, but now I know people go really wrong facing it and I get to cut down on my theory to study

[@zelandakhniteblade5436]

The Old Benoni is a perfectly playable defence and has a lot more subtlety than is shown in this video. The plan shown in this video with ...ed is essentially that of the Modern Benoni and that is one approach. You can also forego an early ...e6 and decide later between that plan and the alternative ...Na6-c7, ...a6, ...Rb8, ...Bd7, ...b5 depending on white's set-up. The only real issue in this approach is that you are not provoking white to play c4, so you need to know positions based around the white plan of Nf3-d2-c4 and a4. Finally, you can use the Old Benoni move order to reach a Czech Benoni position by playing ...e5. Regardless of which approach you take, you very much need to know the white lines based on an early f4 and Bb5, since these are quite dangerous without the proper countermeasures. In the end, the move order choice comes down to choosing whether you want to prevent white from playing the Nc4 plan above or the Trompowsky and London System. Since there are many more London players at club level than positional players with detailed Old Benoni theory knowledge, I heartily recommend the Old Benoni move order regardless of whether you use this plan, the Czech or the more traditional Old Benoni structure.

[@TrueBlueAndrew]

This opening is awesome!!

[@HappyCetacean]

Hi! Can you make a video on the Double Muzio Gambit at some point? I saw a little bit of it and it looks like a lot of fun.

[@user-hv9if6yb8q]

Great bro🎉

[@georgepapastavros1113]

If you want to play the modern benoni you HAVE to start with nf6 because of 1.d4 c5 2.d5 e6 3.e4 and black can (forcefully) capture back on d4 with the e pawn which is different than white capturing with the c pawn because the pawn structure is symmetrical and with less space, black is worse. In the modern benoni both sides play for a win because black has a majority on the queenside and white has a majority in the centre. In some lines of the modern benoni black attacks the e4 pawn and in most lines black expands with a6 b5 or even gambits b5. However when white captures back with the e pawn white is immune to these ideas of counterplay. For reference 1.d4 nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 e6 (4.e4 is impossible because of 4. ... nxe4) is the starting position of the modern benoni where white is forced to capture back with the c pawn. Edit: in another comment you also mention that it avoids sidelines. But white can still enter most sidelines with 2.c3, 2.e3, 2. nf3 and also with 2.e4 (all moves which you didn't cover) white can enter the smith-morra gambit (normally played 1.e4 c5 2.d4) which is dangerous if black doesn't know what they're doing. The old benoni just avoids the trompowsky and the veserov at the cost of white entering a much favourable version of the benoni not to mention stockfish (at depth 44) evaluates the old benoni at +1.0 and the fact that it has a very high losing rate among master games. So to sum up, no this is NOT ''the easiest opening to learn against d4'' or ''very easy to play at the beginner level'' unless you're playing against a wall.

[@DhrjMakj]

This is Gold thanks

[@p1god2]

"At this point, white has lost all of the advantage " Stockfish : "its a draw" 😂😂

[@wilestrella7202]

Thankyou sir❤

[@BloontoniumWizard]

Thank you i needd another weapon against d4

[@Unndecided]

Please could you make a video on the ponziani

[@BenPhoenix]

Explained well

[@dethor6251]

The line with captures is like an reti gambit but without the knight

[@TheYorkshireD0dger]

Amazing videos! I've played this opening a few times against my friends. You suggest if they play any other move than capturing our pawn on C6 or pushing, then just take with our Pawn. What would you suggest if they instead defend this pawn with Knight F3? Does this turn into some sort of sicillian?

[@autumn4442]

You could probably kick the knight out of the center with your pawns after the knight recaptures

[@TheYorkshireD0dger]

That's a good idea, thank you! Will give that a go next time I try this :)@@autumn4442

[@josephoyek6574]

At 1:10, is it wrong to go for a Queen's Indian setup with b6, Bb7, Nbd7? What is the main key feature of a Benoni opening? Can I play the Benoni in "every game" the same way I can play a King's Indian against every opponent?? Also, is it bad to play the Czech Benoni?

[@IsanG08]

So what you do when they take the pawn and then defend the pawn white the bichop???

[@shimalaystudios6961]

what if they go Be3 to defend the pawn?

[@semaht03]

what if he def the pawn with BxE3, what should I response ?

[@RyanSmith-qh7sr]

Bro, are you and bobby bo related?cause u both have amazing voice😅

[@swallowtail1741]

What do you do when the white bishop goes g5

[@finwasfound]

What do u do after d4 c5 e3?

[@jaydub2971]

Mashup between the Old Benoni & the Modern Benoni?

[@ketonicm8504]

What if after dxc5 they defend with their bishop?

[@TheReaIWorIdOfficial]

W

[@user-bs7eq6lk7r]

there are other moves for the opponent like protecting the pawn by queen so could u make a vid for the other possible moves this vid only has common moves people do....

[@sololeveling1437]

[@kazio13579]

2:45 - what's after D6?

[@adamjohnsonstudio7910]

Who else is here to fight against Benoni

[@almal1465]

Me

[@joycekoch5746]

At 5:15 what does one do as black if they play pawn d6?

[@sprayandmiss]

take with black pawn

[@BloontoniumWizard]

Can you make a video on e6 b6 Systems?

[@bruhifysbackup]

White kinda has an advantage without Nc3

[@matheusclaudio7529]

Ah, I See You're a Man of Culture As Well

[@BloontoniumWizard]

@@bruhifysbackup bro white has an advantage in this opening as well, it doesn’t make it a bad opening, especially when you play against 800s in your case.

[@bruhifysbackup]

@@BloontoniumWizard at 800, its fine

[@jameshorrigan6264]

What if they try to hang onto the pawn with the bishop

[@Volclus]

It will temporarily keep the extra pawn, but blocking the E-pawn is a terrible play that will make their development way slower, and you can just develop normally and win the pawn back later.

[@spacemadness6709]

@@Volclus also, assuming we’re talking about d4 c5 dxc5 e6 be3, na6 wins the pawn back

[@farouqbaiti4315]

I thought it was Modern Benoni Defense. But this is Old Benoni Defense.

[@robiulahmed]

I beat Isobel, the 1600 bot, using this. My elo is around 990.

[@leonardobarrera2816]

3:10 I: Réti xd

[@jameshorrigan6264]

Queens indian please

[@Someone-tn8ur]

If you are advising to play e6, then there is no reason you should play c5 on move one, instead you should start with Nf6 otherwise you give White too many good options against the modern Benoni which you have transposed into. In my view, c5 played on move 1 means you want to stay in an old Benoni style where you are solid, playing defensively and not having the tactical fireworks of the modern Benoni.

[@temple9370]