Alejandro Ramirez: Attacking with the Benko

Attacking with the Benko, 1 - Review

Attacking with the Benko Gambit, Volume 1, by Grandmaster and ChessBase editor Alejandro Ramirez is the first of a two DVD set repertoire on the Benko. Ramirez is an experienced Benko player and an enthusiastic presenter. Both show on the DVD.

In this volume Ramirez covers the positions arising after 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 b5!?. The second DVD on the Benko Gambit deals with sidelines after 1.d4 Nf6.

At club level the Benko is a good practical choice for Black, especially at short time controls where the initiative is as important as material. Ramirez provides the future Benko player with the right amount of material to start playing the gambit and keep developing his/her opening repertoire.

But the Benko also attracted a number of top players. Here's a nice win by World Champion Magnus Carlsen against Boris Gelfand:

Garry Kasparov also liked the many advantages of the Benko. At the tournament in Linares he used it to win a fine game against Evgeny Bareev - and when Ramirez saw this he was so impressed that he decided to take up the Benko himself.

By now Ramirez is a long time Benko practitioner and that creates a more personal connection between the selected material and the way the ideas are explained to the  audience. Sometimes when presenting a game Ramirez proposes several alternatives for Black which he can do because he has huge experience in similar positions. For example, in some lines Ramirez advocates putting the black queen on the g1-a7 diagonal to put pressure on the queenside and the white king thus playing the whole board and restricting one’s play to the queenside.

The author also indicates the type of positions Black must avoid at all costs – a valuable piece of advice. One such example is the game Kramnik- Topalov, Wijk Aan Zee 2003, in which White could consolidate his position and Black had no compensation for the pawn.

Alejandro Ramirez feels at ease in Benko positions

Ramirez is a good presenter and explains the basic ideas behind the Benko very well and clear. One key issue of the Benko is the long lasting initiative Black develops if White takes the gambit pawn. White starts defending in the opening and might well do so in the endgame.

Ramirez shows the methods, piece/square relationships that Black needs to know to keep his initiative and to transform it into a solid advantage. The core of the DVD are nineteen grandmaster games and six training exercises. The games illustrate the main lines White can play the Benko and each illustrative game is shown in videoclips of 10 to 14 minutes. A busy student can make daily progress even if his only time for chess is at lunch break.

The material Ramirez offers is of high quality, but the diligent student should cover at least two areas on his own. First, the reason behind move orders such as 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 b5 4.cxb5 a6 5.bxa6 g6 (instead of ...Bxa6) is not explained (the move 5...g6 restricts white options by taming white‘s possible double fianchetto – the position after 6.g3 g6 7.Bg2 d6 8.b3 Bg7 9.Bb2 might not appeal to Benko players).

Second, novice Benko players may need to work on typical Benko endgames to exploit Black’s superior pawn structure. In fact, Black often has the better endgame in the Benko, even if a pawn down.

Players taking the Benko from square one, Benoni/Kings Indian players expanding their repertoire into Benko territory and, white players facing difficulties against the Benko will benefit the most from this DVD, which all in all is excellent and highly recommended.

Reprinted with kind permission of the Florida Chess Association magazine.

Sample Video

Alejandro Ramirez: Attacking with the Benko Gambit Languages: English ISBN: 978-3-86681-352 EAN: 4027975007410 Delivery: Download, Post Level: Tournament player,  Professional €27.90 €23.45 without VAT (for Customers outside the EU) $26.33 (without VAT) ISBN: 978-3-86681-456-1 This DVD can be purchased as a hard copy or it can be downloaded directly from the Internet, that way sparing you the few days needed for it to arrive by post. Order this Fritztrainer in the ChessBase Shop